Remember You
by RadeliaPotter
Summary: FINISHED! Sequel to Let The Darkness Take You. Harry is given a mysterious gift for his birthday that gives him new happiness. But if it is so great, then why does Dumbledore feel he needs to hide everything that it is from Harry? HarryDraco slash
1. Happy Birthday

**A/N:** Hello again! I bet you all thought I had died! Well... I didn't! First off, I would just like to thank all my fantastic reviewers for reviewing and sticking with _Let the Darkness Take You_. Without all of you, I probably would have never carried on with this story. You're truly wonderful.

Second, I think I should make clear that these stories are now AU with the release of OotP. I think I have included a few details from the fifth book into these stories, otherwise, certain details will be ignored.... such as my favourite character's death. Excuse me while I sob.

Third, a huge thanks goes out to my betas, Padfoots_Bitch and Capricious_Sylph! They are both wonderful and this story is one hundred times better now. Thank you! Now... on with the story!

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**Remember You**

_Chapter One_

~~~~~

Harry Potter rolled over in his spacious bed and gradually began to wake. Birds chirped cheerfully in the trees outside his bedroom window, and the sun was shining brightly in the clear blue sky. A gentle breeze was floating through the open window, tickling the dark-haired boy's nose with its summery scent. Harry inhaled deeply and stretched luxuriously, mewling like a content kitten. A faint smile crossed his boyish features as he remembered the last time he had awoken making that kind of noise. Professor Severus Snape had been sitting in the room, watching and waiting for Harry to stir. The Professor had teased Harry in his own sharp manner, which made Harry blush with embarrassment. It was not Harry's fault after all that he liked the first moments after his brain chose to awaken. The moments when he was not quite awake, yet was coherent enough to know that he was warm, comfortable, and so very refreshed. 

Harry sighed with content, rolled onto his stomach and placed his chin on his hands. As soon as he had moved into Sirius' manor, he had quickly realised that he enjoyed looking out his bedroom windows in the morning, even if it was pouring outside. The grounds outside the massive house were nothing short of impressive. They had rolling hills with strategically placed gardens growing every kind of flower, herb, and magical plant you could think of. If a plant could not be found in the gardens outside, it was most likely found in the greenhouses on the edge of the grounds of Black Manor. Even more impressive than the rolling, green hills were the snow-capped mountains that made up the background of the picture. Sirius had taken Harry flying there the first week he arrived. The air had been a bit chilly, but the view had been breathtaking. There were no words to describe it, and Harry hoped that he would be able to share it with Draco Malfoy.

Draco was another pleasant thought to think about on this beautiful, July morning. Draco Malfoy was Harry Potter's boyfriend, and in Harry's opinion, there was no other person out there like him. Harry still had a hard time believing that Draco actually loved him just as much as the Gryffindor loved Draco. Without fail, every time Harry thought of his silver-eyed boyfriend, he would get a funny feeling in his stomach and heart, like someone was squeezing them. He hoped that this feeling would never go away.

Just as Harry saw Sirius' owl fly into the Manor owlery, back from her night hunt, a knock sounded at the door. "Come in!" he called placidly, his mind turning to the whereabouts of his own owl, Hedwig. She still had not returned from her trip to Dudley, and that had been at the beginning of May. Not for the first time, he told his own mind to sod off and that Hedwig was all right. So, he turned his attention back outside. He kind of wished that his room overlooked the lake and the Quidditch pitch as well, but he supposed he could not have it all. The gardens, with their magnificent marble statues, gazebos, and secret stone pathways with ten-foot high ivy walls, were enough to look at. He loved everything about them. He had gone exploring in them everyday. Some of them were easy to navigate, as there were not any walls, but then there were some that he could never figure out, and he would have to yell for help when he became lost. Sirius would sometimes hear him, come flying with Harry's Firebolt in hand and toss it to him. That would be when they would go flying all over the grounds together. It was these moments that Harry loved the most. 

His visitor opened the door and he stepped inside. At least Harry thought it to be a he. Sirius was the only other person living in the house besides the house elves, who never knocked. Harry closed his eyes as he laid his cheek on his hands, smiling softly. A sudden shiver ran through Harry's body as he felt gentle fingers running up his leg, back, neck, before they nestled in Harry's hair, gently massaging his scalp. It felt so good that Harry had a hard time opening his eyes to see who his visitor was. It definitely was not Sirius. He squinted because he was not wearing his glasses. The person chuckled and gently placed the round frames into his hand. After hurriedly putting them on, Harry looked back up at the person before him. A large grin broke onto his face, and he jumped off the bed with a strangled cry, hugging his visitor with a fierceness that he did not know he had within himself. 

"Draco!" 

"Oomph! It's good to see you too, Harry," Draco replied, returning the hug to the overexcited Gryffindor. Harry pulled away and smiled fondly, tucking a blond strand of hair behind the Slytherin's ear. 

"What are you doing here?"

"You don't want me here or something?" Draco asked with an eyebrow raised, amusement clear in his eyes.

"Of course I do! Why wouldn't I? I was just thinking about you." 

"Oh, really?" Draco asked slyly, pushing Harry to a sitting position on the large scarlet four poster. "And what did those thoughts entail, precisely?" 

Harry smiled again and pulled the fair boy onto his lap, kissing his neck softly in the process. "I was just thinking how every time I think of you, or see you..."   

"You get an uncontrollable erection and can't think of anything else until you've taken care of it, thinking of me, and screaming out my name?" Draco interrupted smirking. "I mean, I don't really blame you. Look at me. I'm gorgeous." 

"Honestly. Why I put up with you is beyond me. Seriously though, do you want to know or not?"

Draco pouted, letting his bottom lip quiver pathetically. "You mean that wasn't what you were thinking about? I'm hurt."

"Fine. That's what I was thinking about," Harry sighed, defeated. Draco smirked while he wrapped his legs around Harry's waist.

"I knew it. Nice pyjamas by the way," he commented, tracing his index fingers down Harry's chest.

Harry looked down and found that he was wearing only boxers. Even though Draco had seen him in only his boxers before, it still made him blush. "Shut up." 

"Okay. But only if you tell me what you were thinking about." 

Harry sighed, exasperated, wishing that Draco would make up his mind. "I was just thinking that whenever I think of you or see you, I just... get this fluttery feeling and another one, like somebody is clenching my heart and stomach. And I just... I thought that I never wanted that feeling to go away..." Harry looked down again, embarrassed now that he said his feelings aloud. They seemed so cheesy. However, Draco merely lifted his chin and looked into the emerald eyes before him. Draco's silver eyes showing nothing but happiness and love within them, and Harry felt himself sigh again. "Don't be embarrassed. I know what you mean." Harry smiled and let himself be kissed by his boyfriend. They pulled away slowly and Draco wrinkled his nose. "Harry, you need to brush your teeth. Your breath is horrible!" 

Harry pushed the slight boy to the floor and mock glared. "I just woke up!" 

Draco returned the fake glare and crossed his legs and arms at the same time. "This is no way to treat a guest. Especially when said guest comes bearing gifts." 

Harry raised an eyebrow. "Why would you come bearing gifts?" Draco snorted, stood up, and sat next to Harry, taking his hand in a condescending manner. 

"It's your birthday, Potter. I come bearing gifts, as in plural, because I brought one and Severus brought one as well."

Harry honestly did not know what to say. "Snape brought me a present for my birthday? I mean, I could imagine him celebrating my Death Day like Nearly Headless Nick celebrates his, but my birthday? That's... unfathomable."

"Yes. To think, I didn't even have to say anything about it. He did it on his own accord." Harry brought his hands under his glasses and rubbed his eyes tiredly. It was such a tiny bit of information, yet it was too much to handle all at once. 

"Stop it, Draco. You may give me a premature heart attack or something and kill me. Would you want that hanging over your head?"

Draco gave Harry his annoyingly superior smirk and kissed his nose. "Not particularly, no." Draco climbed onto Harry's lap again and wrapped his legs about Harry's thin waist. "Besides, I think I would miss this body of yours too much." Draco lightly ran his fingernails down Harry's bare chest, giving the dark-haired boy goose bumps. 

Harry suppressed a shiver as Draco went to work on his neck with his soft mouth. "Honestly, all you think about is sex, Draco," Harry teased, though he knew that this was far from the truth.

The blond boy sat back and looked at Harry with an innocent eyebrow raised in question. "Is that such a bad thing?" Harry gave Draco's trademark smirk, wrapped his arms around the boy's waist, and flipped him over onto the bed so fast that Draco barely had time to protest. Harry thought it to be very good luck that Draco's legs were still wrapped around his waist. "Harry, what are you doi... Oh." Harry continued sucking and nibbling on Draco's sensitive neck as Draco purred soft words into his ear. "Well," Draco began breathlessly as Harry moved down to his collarbone. "Who am I... Oh, yes, right there... To deny the... Damn, don't stop that... birthday boy what... Holy hell! Where did you learn that?" Draco had to take a few calming breaths as Harry continued his ministrations. "What he wants?" he finally finished lamely. 

Harry looked up and smiled. "Draco, just shut up. Really good birthday presents don't talk so much."

"But I'm not your..." Harry cut him off by covering Draco's mouth with his own. Draco made a sound like 'oh well' into Harry's mouth and returned the kiss eagerly. 

"Ah- hem," somebody cleared their throat from the door. Harry broke away from Draco with a silly grin plastered on his face and glazed-over eyes. Draco gave a small noise of protest and tried to get Harry to kiss him some more - he obviously had not heard the third person enter the room. Harry laughed nervously, batting his boyfriend's advances away.

"Sirius. Good morning."

Sirius raised an eyebrow. "Good morning and happy birthday. I would have knocked, but well, the door was open and I could see very well already so..." 

"Oh..." Harry gave an embarrassed laugh. "That was Draco's fault then..." 

"Well, I didn't expect you to jump me like this!" Draco exclaimed indignantly. "I was supposed to tell you that breakfast was ready, and I was going to get to that, but then you flipped me here!" If possible, Harry turned even more red and smacked Draco's arm.

"Shut up!" He said in a stage whisper and tried to get up. After the first and second attempts failed, Harry stopped to use his brain and realised why he was not able to get up from the bed. Draco still had his legs wrapped around him. "Let go of me, you twit." Draco sent a smirk to Harry for about the tenth time that morning and released his vice-like grip. 

"Yes, well," Sirius began amused. "You may want to get dressed, Harry. Breakfast is ready in the dining hall."

"The dining hall?" Harry asked, confused. "But we've never eaten in there before." Sirius eyes twinkled, and he winked before he walked out, being sure to close the door behind him. Harry turned to Draco with his hands on his hips. "What's going on?" 

Draco shrugged and climbed off the bed. "Damn you, Potter. Now you have you've got me all hot and bothered. I can't go down there like this!" Harry got a predatory gleam in his eye. "You want me to help with that? I'm sure we've got a little time," he said as he moved towards his boyfriend. Draco swallowed thickly when Harry pressed their bodies together. Harry kissed Draco's soft lips and wasted no time in moving his hands down to the top of the blond's trousers. He deftly undid the button, unzipped him, and began sliding his hand inside his trousers.

"Stop it!" Draco said, batting Harry's hand away and moving away from the disappointed Gryffindor.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing. You need to get dressed is all," Draco said uncomfortably, redoing his trousers.

"Fine," Harry replied shortly. "Go downstairs then and wait for me there. I need a shower."

"Don't be mad, Harry. It's just not the time for it, all right?"

It's never the time, Harry thought bitterly. "Who said I was mad? I'm hungry, I stink, and I need a shower." Harry ushered Draco out of his bedroom and leaned against the door, breathing deeply.

He knew he should not be angry and that he should give Draco as much time as he needed... but honestly, they had been together seven months, and Draco still would not let Harry touch him underneath his boxers, or over them for that matter. To think, Harry had been the one going into the relationship believing he would have trouble trying to keep Draco under control. How wrong he had been.

After most of Harry's major problems had abated last term at Hogwarts, he had quickly discovered that Draco was all talk and no action. Literally. The boy certainly talked about sex enough, but he sure as hell did not follow through. In fact, Harry would even go so far as to say that Draco was scared of sex. Every time their snogging went a bit too far, the blond would look like a deer caught in headlights and he would scramble away like he had been bit in the arse. It did not make sense with Harry's dealings with the Slytherin.

But the Gryffindor could not dwell on this right at the moment, he had to take a shower. Twenty minutes later, Harry was hurrying down the three flights to the ground level of Black Manor, showered and dressed in the dark blue robes that Sirius had bought for him at the beginning of the summer holidays. Once on the ground floor, voices echoed down the cavernous corridor from the dining hall, making Harry speed up in anticipation. As far as he knew, only Draco and Snape were here with Sirius, but it sounded as if there were about twenty people in the dining hall. The whispers quieted down as he approached and when he reached the closed doors, they had stopped altogether. Cautiously, Harry opened the door and stepped in. Everything was pitch dark.

"Er - Sirius? Draco? Professor Snape? Are you in here?" 

Taking Harry by surprise, all the candles crackled to life and the curtains on the windows flew open, flooding the room with the morning sunlight. "SURPRISE!" The sound was so deafening that Harry took a few steps back in alarm as confetti rained down from the ceiling. Harry let out a breath and tried to say something, but he only managed to open and close his mouth like a goldfish. He had been correct in his approximation on the way here. There were about twenty people here, if not more than that. Sirius, Remus Lupin, Draco, Professor Snape, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Professor Dumbledore, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, the twins, Bill and Charlie Weasley, Harry's dorm mates, Seamus Finnigan, Dean Thomas, and Neville Longbottom, Professor McGonagall, Hagrid, the Patil twins, Lavender Brown, and to top it off, the Creevey brothers. After the prolonged silence on Harry's part, some people started to laugh at his reaction. 

"I..." he began, closed his mouth and tried again. "Is this for me?" he asked in awe as he looked at all the balloons and the banner that proclaimed, 'Happy 17th Birthday, Harry!' Even with that banner, he was sure they had made a mistake. Nobody had ever given him a party before. Let alone a surprise party.

One of the Weasley twins, Harry assumed that it was Fred, started to sniffle. Fred stomped his foot and made his lip quiver. "Damn! After all this hard work, we invited the wrong Harry! What are we going to do now? The whole day is ruined!" He then dramatically threw himself onto his twin's shoulder and began to sob. George solemnly began to pat his back.

"There, there, brother. We'll figure it out. We'll just have to kick this Harry out and go find the other one."

"Oh, but it's just not the same! The second surprise is never the same!" 

"Boys!" Mrs. Weasley admonished, but Harry was grinning at the twin's antics. Fred immediately picked himself up, wiped pretend tears off his face, and sent Harry a winning smile. Harry was hard pressed not to return it. 

"Of course this is for you, dear!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed as she bustled over and wrapped him in a warm hug. "We should have done this for you years ago instead of waiting until now. Percy wishes you a happy birthday, by the way. He was not able to get it off of work. Fudge has been keeping him quite busy."

"Oh. Well, that's too bad," Harry replied, though how remorseful he felt over it, he did not know. Harry was still a little put out to think that Percy had taken the Minister's side when Voldemort had returned. Ever since the truth had become known, Percy had made an effort to avoid Harry as if he were embarrassed, though he had made amends with his family, which was definitely a good thing. 

"Move it, mum. Hermione and I want to say hello."

"Ronald, you should have more respect towards me. Especially after I received all those letters from Hogwarts this year, saying how you were having a little trouble keeping... certain things under control!"

Draco and Harry snickered as Ron's ears flushed red and he withered under her stare. Harry still had not told Ron that Draco had been the one to curse him with an uncontrollable erection last term. And he was not about to either. "Mum, we're all aware of that. You don't have to announce it to the world."

Hermione maneuvered around Ron's mother and threw her arms around Harry's neck. "Happy birthday, Harry."

"Thanks, Hermione."

Ron came to him next and clapped him on the shoulder. "Bet you never saw this coming, did you?"

"That was an astute observation, Weasley. But I think we already gathered that from his reaction," came Snape's low, even voice from behind Harry. How the Potions Master had even got there was a mystery. Harry had to wonder if he was a bat. Harry turned and looked at him. Snape was still as greasy as ever, though he had his hair tied at the base of his neck and, somehow, it made him look cleaner. 

"Hello, Professor Snape."

"Potter." Snape held out his hand and Harry grasped it in a firm handshake. "Happy birthday. I trust that Black has been treating you well over the holidays?" he asked, raising an eyebrow towards Sirius. Sirius turned pink and clenched his jaw angrily. 

"Yes, he has, sir. I couldn't ask for a better guardian."

"Good," Snape replied, still not turning away from Sirius. "Just as long as he's not persuading you to do anything you'd rather not be doing..." Snape left it there and he walked over to where Draco was standing. Harry had to take a calming breath and tell himself that it was Snape's odd way of showing concern towards Harry, or rather contempt for his godfather. The latter seemed more reassuring because thinking that Snape might be showing any concern towards Harry was oddly disorienting. 

In fact, any emotion shown towards Harry from the Potions Master that was not contempt was disorienting. Even with the events of sixth year, Harry found it hard to believe that Snape might have more respect for him. Last term at Hogwarts, Harry had been the victim of yet another one of Voldemort's schemes. The amazing thing was that the scheme was not to have him killed. This time, the plot was to make Harry join sides with Voldemort. It was an entirely successful plan, helped along by the least suspected person, Sirius Black. Sirius had been captured by Voldemort in the early weeks of the summer holidays after Harry's fifth year at Hogwarts, and placed under the Imperius spell. From there, he was ordered to keep himself isolated until Harry's birthday in July. It was then that Sirius had come to the Dursley's acting very much unlike himself. Harry had hoped that it was a facade put on for his so-called family, but it was not so. When Harry returned to school on September first, it was to find that Sirius did indeed hate him, along with Harry's best friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. It had not stopped there either. When Harry had tried to find a compartment to sit in, nobody would let him sit with them, or the compartments were all full. The only person who had allowed him to enter, was the one and only Draco Malfoy.

Throughout the next months, Draco Malfoy, Ginny Weasley, and Colin Creevey were the only people who were even remotely nice to Harry. Eventually, Sirius got to the two Gryffindors as well, leaving Harry completely friendless because, at the time, Draco Malfoy could have hardly been considered a friend. It was then that Professor Snape stepped in with a very reluctant Draco at his side. The unlikely trio worked together all year, trying to discover the mystery that laid over Hogwarts, even while the Darkness was descending upon Harry. Harry had tried to fight it off, but soon, he had found himself turning to Voldemort. On the night of Harry's initiation, Voldemort revealed Sirius as the one who had been administering the Semi Vivus potion to everybody in Hogwarts, which made them hate Harry. Harry's task to become a Death Eater was to kill Sirius and torture his friend Ron Weasley. He did the latter first, and was about to kill Sirius when a large explosion blasted from behind them. Before Harry could do any real bodily damage to Sirius, he was pulled off his godfather and brought back to Hogwarts by portkey. Draco had proceeded to 'talk' Harry back to the Light while the Gryffindor dreamed.

The next day, when Harry had awoken, Snape had been sitting in his room, waiting for the younger man to stir. It was then that Snape had told Harry that he was impressed by Harry's ability to block out Sirius's brainwashing technique for so long. Snape's concern had been very disconcerting, no less than it was today.

Harry continued greeting his party guests and soon, they were all seated around the table, eating a large birthday breakfast. Draco was on Harry's left while Ron was on his right, and Hermione next to Ron. The red head seemed to be so ecstatic to see his girlfriend after one month of not seeing her, that he was completely forgetting the presence of his best friend. Harry could not really be bothered by Ron's inattentiveness either way because Draco was sitting next to him, and Harry was rather content with speaking only to him. In fact, Harry suspected that he would have been happier with spending the day with only his boyfriend than with this whole lot of people. Not that he was not grateful for the gesture of a party, it was indeed very nice. But it sometimes felt like people still had ill feelings towards the Boy Who Lived. He supposed that it was just too soon after his little ordeal to feel otherwise. 

Harry speared a sausage onto his fork and leaned towards Draco with a small smile in place. "So, Drake... are you having a good time?" he asked, and took a bite of his sausage. Draco eyed Harry chewing the sausage. The blond cleared his throat and took a drink from his orange juice.

"Yes, quite. Thanks for asking, Harry. Professor Black puts on a good party." 

Harry smiled, swallowed and licked his lips. "Well, he was bit of a wild one back in Hogwarts. It seems he still has it." Harry straightened in his chair, and continued eating his sausage. When Harry was full to bursting, he pushed his plate aside and smiled at Draco, who had just done the same. "So, Draco, how has your summer at Hogwarts been so far?" Professor Snape was now Draco's guardian after Lucius was thrown into Azkaban, and they were both residing at Hogwarts for the summer. Snape did apparently have a house of his own, but could not go there. Voldemort now knew that Snape and Draco were traitors to the Dark side, and would easily get to them if they were to stay at Snape's house. 

"It's weird being the only student there. We never eat in the Great Hall anymore. We're always in the kitchens since there are so few of us. Only Professor Dumbledore, Severus, and Professor McGonagall stay during the summer holidays. Oh, Hagrid and Filch stay as well to keep the place clean, you know. But other than that, it's completely empty." 

"I would think it's nice, getting the pitch all to yourself, the lake, the grounds, everything. I wouldn't mind staying there."

"Why? You have this place now! I wouldn't want to leave if I were you!" 

"Oh, yeah. I sometimes forget that I actually live here." Harry offered a sheepish grin to Sirius who had overheard that part. "I keep thinking the Dursleys will come get me at any time."

"I know how you feel. I keep thinking that either my mum or my father will come get me from Hogwarts any day now and bring me back to Malfoy Manor." 

"Have you spoken to your mother lately, Draco?"   Draco swallowed and looked out the window.

"No. She doesn't want anything to do with me anymore, remember? She still thinks it's my fault that Lucius was put into Azkaban." 

"It's not," Harry assured.

"I know. But I can't help but feel guilty, you know?" he asked, looking again at Harry. "I mean, that's what I wished for day in and day out. I wanted him dead or in prison, and I got that. I just didn't know I'd have to lose my mum as well." Draco gave a dry, humourless laugh. "We really aren't that different, are we? I might as well be an orphan with the way things are going now."

Harry's heart ached when he saw the broken Draco before him. He wanted nothing more than to take the smaller boy into his arms and hold him, but there were too many people around, and only a select few knew the extent of their relationship. So, Harry settled for putting a hand on Draco's elbow, drawing slow circles with his fingertips where no one could see. "I'm sorry we never realised that we were so much alike before all this," Harry said softly.

Draco's eyes lit up with a mischievous sparkle. "I'm not sorry." 

"What?" Harry asked, slightly hurt.

"Oh, come on, Harry! You weren't ready for my abrasive personality, and I wasn't ready for your goody-goody, thoughtless Gryffindor attitude. We would have killed each other."

Harry laughed. "Yes, I believe you are correct. I retract my statement. I don't know if I can even handle your Slytherin abrasiveness now, come to think of it," Harry added playfully. Seeming to have a very un-Draco Malfoy-like moment, Draco stuck his tongue out at Harry and mock pouted. Harry snorted with laughter and turned his attention elsewhere. Directly across the table was Professor Dumbledore. The wizened man was watching the two boys with a twinkle in his eyes and a benign smile upon his face. When the Headmaster caught Harry looking, he winked and looked away to speak with Professor McGonagall. Harry would not put it past the old man to have figured out just how close he was to the Slytherin. Even after Dumbledore looked away, Harry continued staring at him. After the events of sixth year, Harry's respect for the man had increased ten-fold. He had tried to explain this to Draco at the end of the term, but the Slytherin had not understood. Harry respected him more now, because the Headmaster was not infallible. The man made mistakes just like everybody else. He had not seen past Voldemort's plan. Which was not really a good thing when it came right down to it, but it proved to the Gryffindor that Dumbledore was human after all and could make mistakes.

"Okay!" Sirius exclaimed suddenly. "I know everybody is extremely full right now, but I think we should wear that off with a nice game of birthday Quidditch!" 

Draco smirked and leaned into Harry and said quietly, "I think it would be more interesting to play if we got the birthday boy to play in his birthday suit." Harry covered his laugh with a hacking cough while he turned an incredible shade of crimson. 

"You all right there, Harry?" Sirius asked concerned. 

Harry pounded his chest with his fist and nodded tightly, willing his cheeks to return to their normal colour. "Yes. I just er - choked on some orange juice. That's all." 

"But... you weren't even drinking from your cup, Harry," Ron said, plainly confused. Harry levelled a glare at his so-called best friend. 

"Yes, Ron. Thanks for pointing that out."

"Well, what's the problem then, Harry?" Sirius asked.

"Nothing," he answered hastily.

"It really was nothing," Draco drawled from beside him, waving a hand majestically through the air. "I merely said that it would make things more interesting if we made the birthday boy play in his birthday suit." Harry groaned loudly and let his head drop onto the surface of the table with a very loud thunk, while the people around him roared with laughter. The only people who were not laughing, or even smiling, were Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Snape, Sirius, and McGonagall. Namely, the people who knew of the relationship, excluding McGonagall who just did not approve of what was being said of her favourite student. Ron looked terrified as images of the two boys together swarmed his head; Hermione pursed her lips, looking as disapproving as McGonagall did at the moment; Ginny was trying to look as serious as Hermione, but her eyes sparkled; Snape looked disgusted; and Sirius was looking murderously at Draco, and then warningly at Harry. Harry groaned inwardly. How come he had the feeling that he was going to be getting _that_ talk later?

Offering a half smile, Harry looked at Sirius, then to Draco who was smiling indulgently. Harry ruffled the blond locks and pinched the Slytherin's cheeks. "Oh, but kids do say the darnedest things, don't they?" Draco swiped his hand away and scowled. 

"I'm not a kid, Potter," he growled. Harry smiled and stood, pushing back his chair. 

"I'm up for Quidditch!" he exclaimed enthusiastically. "Though I do think I'll keep my birthday suit hidden under my clothes, not that I don't appreciate the suggestion, Draco. Thanks for that," he said tightly, slapping Draco's shoulder rather hard.

The Weasley twins sighed. "Harry, can't you just give us a peek at that birthday suit?" Fred asked.

"I bet it's just to die for!" George finished.

Harry blushed and hurried from the table, sending his boyfriend a warning glare since Draco was currently sending death looks to the twins. 

"Boys!" Mr. and Mrs. Weasley admonished as one. 

Harry did not stay to hear what else the twins had to say, or the giggles that were coming from Parvati and Padma, Lavender, and Ginny. He was too busy hurrying up to his room to change into some proper clothing for Quidditch. He was now looking forward to Quidditch. It was the chance to play against Draco... and maybe even beat him so badly that the blond would never want to show his face again. Harry grinned and flew out of his balcony doors on his Firebolt.

**

Two hours later, Harry flew down to the earth with a large grin in place. The golden snitch was currently fluttering in his hand, struggling to get out again. Draco soon followed him, scowl set in place, avoiding Harry and not looking him in the eyes. "Oh, come on Draco. It wasn't so bad." 

"Only because this time you didn't try to kill me," Draco growled out and stalked away, heading back to the manor.

"Oi, Harry! You'd think he'd get over the fact that you always beat him by now, eh?" George asked jovially.

Harry nodded, watching him go, feeling like his heart was sinking into his stomach. There had been absolutely no reason for Draco's sudden outburst. The game had been far from competitive or physical. Everybody had been laid back throughout the entire game. In fact, that was why it took so long to end it. Harry had seen the snitch fifteen minutes into the game and two more times after that, but let it go and prayed that Draco would not see it. Thankfully, he had not. Harry began to wonder to himself if Draco was really that bad at Quidditch or if he had been playing the same way as Harry had. 

"What's wrong with Draco, Harry?" Hermione asked as she ran to him from where she had been sitting in the grass with her dorm mates, Ginny, and Padma. Harry shrugged and left without a word.

"Don't you want to play another game, Harry?" Seamus called in his thick Irish accent.

"No. You guys go on ahead. I'm going to go talk to Draco about something. Here, Charlie. Use my broom and play since you didn't get the chance to last time." 

"Thanks, Harry," Charlie smiled and ran to him to take the broom. Harry could not help but look the red-haired man up and down a little as Charlie ran to him. He was extremely good looking. Charlie had that rugged outdoors type look about him, and was never without dragon hide somewhere on his body, even if it was just his boots. Dragon hide was extremely irresistible to Harry, for some strange reason. Charlie stopped in front of him, and Harry was surprised to see that he towered over Ron's older brother by at least three inches. He had not realised that he had grown so much since the last time he had seen the man. Harry was even more surprised when Charlie took the Firebolt from him and let the calloused hands run over Harry's a moment longer than they should have. Charlie grinned, and his chocolate eyes twinkled. He nudged Harry in the side with his elbow. "Is there something going on with you and Draco Malfoy, Harry?" Harry blinked, and unstuck his throat.

"Me and Draco? Heh... no. We're just friends. He helped me out a lot last term." 

Charlie nodded. "So I've heard from my mother. She's been giving Ron an earful every day this summer. I think he's real happy about staying here until the new term begins."

"Ron's staying here?"

"Oh, shit. Yes, sorry. I wasn't supposed to say anything. You didn't hear it from me." He grinned sheepishly, and Harry felt his stomach churn with butterflies. "I'm shit for keeping secrets, you know. I once told mum that Bill had a foursome with two men and one girl. She had a fit and called him straight away through the fire and gave him a mouthful, plus a howler. I don't think Bill spoke to me for about five months." Charlie laughed while Harry stared, his mouth agape. "I tried to explain that he was in the experimentation stage when she got into the fit about no grandchildren. I had heard it once before and I certainly wasn't about to listen again."

Harry heard nothing of Charlie's last bits of conversation. His mind was still on the part about a foursome. "Bill had a foursome?" he asked incredulously. Of course in Harry's inexperienced mind, having sex with one man seemed impossible, but two men and then throw in a woman? How exactly did that work? 

"Oh, there I go running my mouth again. Pretend I never said that. I better get to the air. It looks like they're getting impatient for me up there." He again smiled at Harry in _that_ way, and the younger Gryffindor found it hard to keep his knees from giving out. Charlie touched his arm gently and rubbed his thumb in circles. "Thanks for borrowing your broom. I've left mine at home anyway."

Harry stood gaping after the older man as he took to the air and started yelling out commands to the team that Harry and had just been a member of.

After a few moments, he collected his senses and started walking towards the manor, intent on finding his boyfriend. "Hey, Harry! Wait up!" The ebony haired boy turned to see Ron running towards him. Oh, Merlin. Not another Weasley, he found himself thinking, much to his dismay.

"What?"

"I know you want to talk to Malfoy alone, but I just needed to warn you about something first."

"Well... aren't you supposed to be playing?"

"No. I let Ginny take my spot. Let's keep walking. Look, Harry... don't get me wrong, I love Charlie. He's the best brother I could ask for. And he is truly a good guy and a hard worker."

"What's your point, Ron?" Harry asked perplexed.

"For your own good, stay away from him, all right?"

"Ron, he's your brother, and your family is like my family. Why would I stay away from him?" 

"I've seen that look in his eyes before, Harry. That look he gave you when he smiled at you... It's his 'come hither' look."

Harry stopped in his tracks and stared at his best friend's retreating back. When Ron realised that Harry was not following anymore, he turned and looked at him, blue eyes showing concern and confusion. "Come hither, Ron? That's ridiculous. Charlie doesn't fancy me. And for another, how in the world would _you_ know that look?"

"I don't like what you're implying. I know that look simply because I've seen it before. He is quite a bit older than me, Harry. He was a teenager and babysitting Ginny and I when I was four. I saw him give many girls and boys that look. I still do, as a matter of fact."

"Well, even if he was giving me that look, why has it got you so concerned?"

"Because!" 

"That doesn't answer my question."

Ron groaned. "Listen. Charlie messes around a lot and I wouldn't want him hurting you. I just think of you as having more serious relationships, and that's not what he is about. He's about one-night stands and all that. It would leave you crushed if you got involved with him."

"I understand how you're concerned, Ron, but you have nothing to worry about. I have Draco and I'm perfectly content with him. And if him and I ever have a fight and break up, I'll remember Charlie if I feel in the mood for a one-night stand." Harry grinned to show that he was kidding. 

Ron groaned again. "I'm not going to think of it. I'm not going to think of it." He took a deep breath and nodded his head firmly. "Okay. You may have Malfoy, but Charlie doesn't know that. I heard you tell him that you two were just friends. Now Charlie is going to think that you're free meat. It's open market day on Harry Potter now." 

"Come off it," Harry said as he began walking again.

"I'm serious!" Ron started walking again, hurrying to catch up. "If you don't believe me, I don't want to hear it when he starts pursuing you aggressively. I mean... seventeen is legal in the wizarding world."

Harry stopped again and turned his attention to the sky, and he watched Charlie fly gracefully in the air, looking out for the snitch. How could Charlie Weasley be interested in him? It just did not seem right. Faintly, Harry heard Ron groan again in realisation. "Merlin. You don't like him, do you?"

He didn't look Ron in the eye. "I don't know what makes you get that idea." 

"Oh no. You do. Malfoy will kill you, you know that, don't you?" 

"I never said I had any feelings for him!" Harry exclaimed indignantly. He looked at Ron's face, raised eyebrows, and disbelieving eyes. Harry sighed. "Okay. So, I am mildly attracted to Charlie. It isn't a big deal. I don't want anything to come of it because it's only physical. With Draco, it's more than that. Besides, I don't see Charlie enough to gain any real feelings for him." 

"Believe me, that'll change now," Ron sighed. "He has set his sights on you. And Harry… whatever happened to the whole, 'redheads don't do it for me' business?" 

Harry looked at Ron now and grinned. "We were talking about a redhead who happens to be a _girl_, Ron."

Ron nodded and then grimaced. "Merlin, Harry, if you--"

"Don't finish that thought. I do not like you in that way. I like blondes, but do you see me dating every blond that comes across my path? No. It's the same for red hair. Look, I can't think of this right now though. I need to go find out what's wrong with my boyfriend. I'll talk to you later, since you're staying here for the summer." 

"Oh, damn! Charlie went and opened his fat mouth didn't he? Bloody hell! Sirius is going to be mad. That was one of your surprises!"

"_One_ of my surprises?" Harry grinned.

"Damn. Just go already, before you find out anything more. Apparently loud mouths run in the family."   Harry laughed as he turned back towards the manor, running the entire way there. He hurried into the front doors into the massive entrance hall. He paused to look where there was a fountain in the middle of the room with a magnificent star at the top that spouted out the water as well as illuminated a radiant green light at all hours of the day. Sitting forlornly on the side of the fountain with his back facing the door was Draco Malfoy, running his fingertips through the green tinted water. Harry sat quietly beside him and brought his left leg onto the cement so that their knees touched. "Hey," Harry said quietly.

"Hi."

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing," was the short reply.

"Do you really take me for a stupid person, Draco? Honestly, what in the world is wrong? I know there is something."

Draco finally looked at Harry with no little irritation in his eyes. "Look, Potter. There isn't anything wrong, so drop it, would you?"   Harry smiled deviously and scooted closer to him.

"I'll drop it if you give me a hug."

"What?" Draco stared at him incredulously.

"I want to hug you. Is that so much to ask?" 

"Er - no, I suppose not."

Still, Draco made no move to give Harry a hug. He just stared with a weird expression on his face. Harry put on his puppy eyes. "I've wanted a hug all morning, Draco. I might just implode if I don't get one soon. Would you want to make me implode on my birthday?" He then stuck out his bottom lip and made it quiver. Draco cracked and let out a small laugh.

"You're pathetic, Harry."

"So, does that mean you'll give me a hug?" he asked, his expression brightening up considerably. Draco rolled his eyes and pulled Harry into a tight hug. Harry sighed and clung tightly to his boyfriend, but soon, it felt as if though it was Harry who was hugging Draco, who was continuing the embrace. The blond boy pulled Harry closer to him and buried his face in Harry's neck. Harry respected the fact that Draco did not seem to want to speak about whatever was bothering him and held the smaller boy even closer to him.

"I heard Charlie Weasley talking to Bill Weasley earlier," Draco said suddenly. His voice was muffled but Harry heard and tensed slightly.

"Yeah? Anything interesting?"

"Yes." Draco pulled back and stared at the wall broodingly. "That bastard is going to try and take you away from me."

"Draco, he doesn't even know that we're together. If he did, well, I don't think he'd try anything."

Draco turned to Harry angrily. "You know already that he's hot for you?" 

"Yeah," Harry sheepishly replied. "Ron already had this talk with me before I came to find you. Before that, I borrowed my Firebolt to Charlie... and he was flirting a lot."

The Slytherin's eyes flashed and he stood abruptly. "That little fucking Weasel! I'll kill him!"

Harry hastily pulled him back down and placed gentle hands on the boy's shoulders. "You are not going to kill Charlie. All right? The Weasleys are the closest thing I have to a family, excluding Sirius and Remus for the moment here. You have nothing to worry about because I love you, not Charlie, all right?"

Draco stared some more into the green water, clenching and unclenching his jaw. "Fine," he replied tersely. "But if he ever lays a finger on you, I'll kill him."

"When did you start getting so jealous?"

"When good-looking, red-haired men start taking interest in you, that's when!" Draco snapped. 

"So..." Harry began casually. "You think that Charlie is good-looking?"

"I didn't say that!" Harry only grinned wider and pulled his boyfriend back towards him.

"You're so cute when you're jealous and indignant." 

Draco looked extremely offended. "Aren't I cute all the time?" 

The dark-haired boy laughed and kissed Draco's neck. "Mmm..." He kissed Draco's lips softly. "You are..." another kiss, "so cute..." he kissed his chin, "and sexy..." he moved again to his lips, "all the time."

"Damn straight, Potter."

They both grinned and kissed again, slowly and deeply. It sent shockwaves through Harry and he felt himself becoming faint, and his body swayed towards the water. Draco seemed to be having the same problem because his body was following Harry's. It was either that or he just did not want to break off their kiss. It did not matter anyhow, because in the next moment both were splashing into the green water. They came up choking and gasping for air and stared incredulously at each other, then Harry began laughing uncontrollably. 

"Nice going, Potter! Now I'm all wet! Look at you! Your skin is green!"

Harry did not care, he was too busy pointing and laughing at Draco to even speak, let alone breathe. "What? I know my skin is green if yours is, but it's not even funny! Stop laughing like that, Harry!"

Harry took a deep breath. "Draco," he choked out and pointed. "Your hair - it's green!" 

Draco's mouth opened and he gave a soft cry of horror.   "My hair!" he yelled. "My beautiful blond hair is green?" 

"Honestly. I like it green. It's kind of sexy. Besides, I'm sure you were ready to dye it again anyway."

Now Draco looked beyond horrified. "Dye my hair, Potter? I'll have you know that my hair is naturally blond! How could you..." he spluttered. "I don't think I've ever been so insulted in my entire life." He took a strand of his hair and looked at it mournfully. "My hair," he whimpered. 

"You're such a pretty boy. It's a wonder nobody has figured out you're gay." 

"Well, I'm sorry if I like to look presentable! I don't know about you, but I don't want to go about looking as if I just came out of a rubbish bin. Besides, you're gay but you don't care one bit about your looks, so don't even start!" He started to get back out of the fountain, but Harry pulled him down with a splash. "What are you doing? I'm getting cold and I want to find Severus so he can sort me out here." 

"Well, the way I see it... we're wet, cold, and green. Why not stay in here for a few more minutes and try something out?" 

"I don't want to stay in here!"

"Just let me experiment with one thing and then we can get out! Please?" 

Draco let out a long suffering sigh and crossed his arms over his chest. "Fine! One thing and then I'm out of here."

Harry smiled victoriously. "Okay, you'll have to hold your breath." He pulled Draco to him and kissed him, lowering them down into the water, where Harry got to find out what it was like to kiss underwater.

* * *

I think this is probably the lightest chapter of the story so far, but I could be wrong. But, I'm sorry if it seems a bit slow. Not all beginnings can start off right away like Let the Darkness Take You did! So, I hope you liked the beginning. Strange things begin happening in the next chapter.

Um... I wasn't going to add a teaser like I did before, but I decided to at the last moment. Here's an un-beta'd version of the part I picked. The beta'd version is on another disk and I'm too lazy to get it right now.  
_With one final squeeze of hands, James and Lily Potter disappeared from view and the room was flooded with light once more, making all occupants blink owlishly trying to get their pupils to dilate. Harry's hands dropped to his sides, and he stood staring at the spot that his parents had just occupied, unable to believe that he had finally got a chance to speak with them, hug them, tell them he was okay, and that he loved them. He smiled. The occupants of the room were now in a state of shock as they continued to stare at the black ball. Harry began to speak, but stopped when the object began to glow a mysterious red. Right before their very eyes, the ball cracked, hissing as it steamed. Harry watched it warily as it seemed to rotate by itself, and before anybody could do anything, it shot a jet of red light towards Harry and hit him in the chest. He went flying backwards into one of the windows. Luckily, they had been charmed to be unbreakable so Harry merely bounced off the windows and onto the floor. He lay in shock for a few moments before pulling himself up to stare incredulously at the heavy ball. It was resealing itself, and the light faded just as quickly as it had come. It now seemed perfectly harmless._

  Well, for now, I am not updating once a week because of a variety of circumstances. But, I have a LiveJournal that I will keep you updated on this story among other things. The link is on the top of my bio. Just click on my name above and you'll see it. If you don't want to check there for updates, I have a paid account here at FF.net, and if you add me to your favourite author list, you'll get notices. I'm not asking you to, it's just a suggestion so you know when I update because I don't send emails! I hope you enjoyed and as always please review to tell me if you loved it or hated it!

SwirlyStars 


	2. The Gift In Question

**This is the sequel to Let the Darkness Take You! I strongly advise you to read that first!**

**A/N:** Well, here it is, you impatient, little sods! Just kidding! I love you all! Really, I do! I don't have much to say, except that you should read this chapter... oh and enjoy it as well! Normal notes and teaser at the end of this chapter!

**Warnings:** (For those of you who are little wussies and can't take the more gruesome stuff! Well.. for the most part, there isn't anything gruesome in this story... yet. Just you wait. ::smirks evilly:: But I've had recent complaints about the slash!) So... ::flips on the warning, flashing red lights and buzzers:: SLASH, SLASH, SLASH! I mean, if you have gotten this far and you don't like slash, what the hell are you doing here? Honestly.

* * *

**Remember You**

_Chapter Two_

~~~~~

Harry was pulled from the green water, gasping for air, and looking around wildly. "What in Merlin's name are you two doing?" asked an irate voice. The young Gryffindor looked through his green water stained glasses and saw that it was Sirius who was trying to pull him and Draco from the fountain. With great difficulty, the two boys scrambled out and stood next to Sirius, shivering and dripping water from their green clothes and skin, and in Draco's case, hair. Harry snorted, trying to hold in his laughter, which earned him a reproving look from Sirius. "I'm waiting. It looked like you two were trying to drown each other. What made you two decide to take a swim in this fountain? There is a perfectly fine lake outside that we could have dunked you two." 

"Sirius! Stop, please. What happened to your sense of fun here?" Harry asked, smirking, an expression he had picked up from the green haired boy standing next to him. 

"I still have it! I just don't like it when I come in here and see my godson drowning in this fountain. I only just got you here a month ago, I'd like to keep you for a while longer."

Harry's facial expression softened and he would have hugged his godfather, but he was wet and green. "I know. But we weren't drowning... we were..." Harry blushed, making his face go to an even deeper shade of green. "Well, I wanted to try something out." He looked to his boyfriend for help, but Draco was looking in the opposite direction, pretending to have not been involved. "I... well, I... I sort of, you know, wanted to see what it'd be like to er - kiss underwater. You see, I didn't really get the idea until we fell in the water. We were just talking and we fell in..." Draco snorted at this, but Harry ignored him. "So, we knew what we were..."

"Black, did you find..." Professor Snape had just walked in the front doors and stopped at the sight of his godson and Harry. His mouth dropped open slightly, but he quickly closed it and advanced on the three men. "Draco, what did Potter do to you? Do you need me to place any hexes on him?"

Harry opened his mouth to protest but Draco beat him to it. "Yes, I think that might be nice, Severus. He pulled me into that fountain, insisting we needed to swim, and now I'm about to die of hypothermia. Plus, my hair is green, Sev! Green!" Draco stopped, looked at Harry and seeming to remember something, carried on in his outrage. "Potter even had the audacity to suggest that I dye my hair! Why would a Malfoy need to dye their hair? We've always been blond, and I mean, my fair skin wouldn't look good with any other colour. Shouldn't people know that my hair is natural?" Draco continued in this vein, and Sirius pointed down a hallway to a bathroom when Snape inquired about one. Snape sent a glare back at Harry as he led his ranting godson away by the shoulder. Harry laughed and turned to Sirius.

"I er - wouldn't suppose you'd be kind enough to help me back to my normal glow?"

Grinning, Sirius pulled out his wand, cast a drying charm, and then wrapped an arm around Harry's shoulders and led Harry in the opposite direction down a long cavernous hallway to another bathroom. "Seeing as how we're alone now, Harry, I want to have a little chat with you. You're seventeen, and you have a boyfriend...." 

"Oh, Merlin, no! Sirius, if this is a sex talk, I don't want to hear it!" 

"Well, I don't want to talk about it either, because it's right embarrassing to talk about this kind of stuff, but you need somebody to tell you, and I could never ask Remus to do it." Sirius offered a cheeky grin and steered Harry into a large bathroom with a bathtub so deep that it looked as though it would be up to Harry's chest if he stood in it. All the bathrooms had a shower and bathtub each, and the baths were all this deep, but they all varied in size. Some could hold only one while others could hold up to thirty people. This particular tub was made for five people. As Sirius and Harry walked in, candles lit up the dark-blue room, offering what little light they could.

"First things first, take off your shirt and shorts."   Harry complied, leaving himself only in his black boxers. Sirius rang a silver bell that sat on the sinks and a moment later, a house elf appeared beside them. They requested some clothes from Harry's room, and then the elf was gone with a pop. "Now, back to the matter at hand," Sirius began, pushing Harry onto the counters with the sinks, and he began to mutter cleaning spells under his breath between his conversation with Harry. "Like I was saying before, you're seventeen and have a boyfriend. I know that you've been together for… how long now?" 

"Seven months, not including the times we broke up," Harry supplied. 

"I just want you to be sure that when you two do have sex it's when you two are ready. It's a big choice and can change everything. It's not always for the better either. Sex can tear two people apart. You two _aren't_ having sex yet, are you?"   Harry flushed and looked down at his legs.

"No," he replied bitterly.   Sirius raised an eyebrow, cast a few more charms, then swung onto the counter beside his godson, even though Harry was still coloured.

"Is that bitterness I hear? Why are you bitter with him?"

"I don't want to talk about it," Harry mumbled, feeling very foolish. 

"Harry, I just want to help. I'm not going to judge you." 

Harry hesitated, trying to get the right words together so that he did not sound like a self-gratifying bastard. "Well... it's just, he pushes me away all the time. He's always talking about sex, always making jokes, but he never wants to go further than kissing. And it's just so... frustrating!"

Sirius chuckled softly and patted Harry on the back. "Sexual frustration. Been there, done that, never want to do it again."

Harry looked at his godfather with a raised eyebrow. "So, you're not feeling frustrated anymore? Where are you..." 

"Oh, I get my kicks here and there," he answered vaguely, not even waiting for the entire question. Harry sniggered. 

"Sirius, are you a slut?"

_"Harry!"_ Sirius laughed. "No. As a matter of fact, I am involved with somebody right now." 

"Really? Who is it? How come you haven't told me?"

"It's... kind of new right now, and a bit fragile. We're keeping it a secret until we get over a few issues that are still between us. It's nothing we won't be able to, but... Oh, fine job, Harry. I get what you're doing. Good job on distracting me." 

"Well, yes, it was. But I am honestly curious."

"All in good time, my friend. What I'm curious about is, you're not forcing Draco to do anything he doesn't want to do, are you?"

"No! What do you take me for? I go as far as he wants me to go. I really don't know what his problem is though, it seems like he gets scared or something when anything beyond kissing begins."

"Well, then just be patient. Maybe sex just makes him nervous. Or maybe sex with a boy makes him nervous. You are his first boyfriend, I presume?" 

"Yes, first everything actually."

"Okay, that brings me to my next topic. Gay sex..." 

Harry groaned. "Sirius!"

"Harry, this is serious. You could end up hurting each other if you don't know what you're doing. I wouldn't call myself an expert on the topic, so I bought you a book on it. It's part of your gift from me, but I thought I'd give it to you in private. I don't want to embarrass you."

Harry dropped his head into his hands. "Trust me, this couldn't get anymore humiliating."

Faintly, Harry heard the house elf pop back in, and Sirius took the clothes from her with a thanks, then the elf popped back out of the bathroom. Sirius started to mutter more cleansing charms on his skin, while Harry continued to think. Sirius announced that his skin was as close to normal as he was going to get it, so Harry got up from the sink and began dressing. He noticed that his skin was still tinted green, but was not really that noticeable. "Sirius?" he asked quietly. 

"Yeah?"

"What do you think my parents would think of me being gay? Would they have disowned me?"

"Disowned?" Sirius asked incredulously. "I should think not, Harry. They would have loved you no matter what. This is a part of who you are, and they would have loved you more for it."

"Well, wouldn't they have been disappointed about not having any grandchildren, if they had lived, of course, and didn't have more kids... I mean, I've always wanted kids, but now I can't. The Potter bloodline will cease to exist when I die." 

Sirius smiled and pulled Harry into a firm hug. "Harry, I don't think you've done your research. There are ways for two men to have a baby together." 

"Adoption?"

"Well, yes, but that way is more Muggle, or if you're sterile. Two men can have a baby together."

Harry pulled back and contemplated for a moment with a slow dawning horror.   "I don't understand how that's possible."

"We live in a world of magic, Harry. Anything is possible."

"You don't mean that a man can get pregnant?" Harry asked slowly.   Sirius let out a barking laugh. "I suppose that is possible, but I wouldn't suggest it." Both men shuddered. "Plus, I don't think anybody has even thought of trying to do that. No, there are other ways. But, I think we're a bit ahead of ourselves here. You will be able to have children, no matter what. For now, let's just think of your birthday, all right?" 

Harry chuckled a little and nodded. "Can we open presents?" he asked brightly. "I mean... it's the least you could do since you've just put me through the sex talk."

Sirius laughed brightly and swung his arm around Harry's shoulders. "Sure thing. Come on. Let's go see if Snape fixed that boyfriend of yours up yet."

The two men quickly walked back into the entrance hall just as the two Slytherins arrived. Harry very unsuccessfully tried to hold back a smile when he saw Draco. Draco's skin was still as green as Harry's, but Draco's hair had hardly toned down at all. The normally blond boy was not looking too happy about this. When he saw Harry walking towards him with a goofy grin, his scowl only deepened.   "Don't come near me, Potter. This is all your fault."

"Hey, I'm not the only one who fell into the fountain, you know." 

"Well, you pulled me back under with you!" 

"Your hair was already green! Fifteen more seconds, if it was even that long, did not make a difference, you prat!"

"Harry!" Sirius admonished.

The young Gryffindor offered a sheepish smile but immediately turned his attention back to Draco, who was now looking at Sirius. "Professor Black, didn't you... punish him or something? Make him work with the house elves for a day. Pulling innocent guests into a fountain of coloured water is not called good hospitality!" 

Sirius rolled his eyes. "First, Draco, you may call me Sirius during the summer holidays. Secondly, I don't think Harry's actions are enough to merit punishment. Maybe if he had threatened your life with drowning... then yes, I'd punish him." 

"Well... he almost killed me twice last term! On purpose! Maybe you should punish him for that!" Draco said, obviously very desperate for Harry to be punished for his actions in the fountain. Harry immediately tensed. Mentioning the events of last term in front of Harry or Sirius was a bad thing to do. The two were getting along, but the wall that had been built between them during Harry's sixth year at Hogwarts would slowly be put back up at any mention. Even if it was not Sirius's fault, Harry had a hard time forgetting what Sirius did. Sirius had also tensed up and was clenching his jaw, just as Harry was. 

"I think that you know, Draco," Sirius began quietly, "that was not Harry pulling those despicable acts. Not in mind, anyhow. Don't you think that he has been punished enough for it?"

Harry stared at the ground, refusing to meet anybody's eyes as silence fell upon the four men.

"Professor... I... I didn't mean..."

"No, don't say anything, Draco. It doesn't matter. And didn't I tell you to call me Sirius?" he smiled at Draco and then placed a hand on Harry's shoulder. Harry jumped a little and flinched away from the touch. Sirius withdrew his hand with a tight swallow. "Harry," he started softly. "I'm going to have the house elves prepare your gifts while I go out and collect the rest of our guests. Why don't you lead Professor Snape and Draco to the sitting room?"

Harry backed away a few more steps with a tight nod. His godfather sighed sadly and left the hall, leaving Harry alone with the two Slytherins. "Harry, I'm sorry," Draco apologised and grabbed Harry's hand. "I don't know what I was thinking."

The dark-haired boy smiled reassuringly. The only reason he felt he could smile right now was because Draco never apologised to anybody except him. It always left a soft spot inside him. "No need for apologies, Draco. I know you didn't. Come on, I'll show you to the sitting room."

"You two go ahead," Snape spoke up. "I need to go speak with Black." Harry nodded his assent and gripped Draco's hand harder, pulling him past the dining hall, two rooms away, into the spacious sitting room. The massive pile of presents was already stacked up next to a love seat where Harry assumed he was supposed to sit. Harry pulled his boyfriend over to this seat and sat next to him.   "I'm sorry about your hair."

"Ah," Draco waved him off. "It only adds to my devastatingly good looks.... Okay, I'm lying. I hate it, Harry. I really do."

"If it makes you feel any better, I like it," Harry whispered, leaning in and planting a soft kiss on the corner of Draco's mouth. Draco sighed and started to lay gentle kisses on Harry's mouth and neck until voices echoed down the long hallway outside the room. Ron and Hermione walked through the doorway and stopped, effectively blocking off the entrance for anybody else. They both stared. Then Ron burst out laughing, pointing a shaking finger at Draco.

"Oh. My. God. Malfoy, your hair! And your skin!"

Hermione snickered. "Honestly. You two should dye your skin orange and you'd look like a couple of oompa loompas." She burst out into more giggles. "I can just see you two dancing around singing, 'oompa... oompa... oompa dee do, I've got another riddle for you.'" She wiped tears of mirth away, while she gained some more control of herself. "Honestly. What did you two do?"

Before Harry could answer, Draco tugged on his arm. "What are dooma loomas?"

*

Four hours later, Harry was finally through all of his presents, had blown out his candles, and now people were bidding him goodbye. Once it was only Sirius, Remus, Harry, Draco, Ron, Hermione, and Snape, they had dinner in the dining room where Sirius and Harry usually ate. Two walls were made completely of glass that overlooked the lake and Quidditch pitch, while the other two walls had burgundy drapes dressing them. "So, Sirius," Harry began after everybody was done eating. "I keep hearing about all these surprises that you have for me," he said, emerald eyes twinkling. Sirius smiled, obviously relieved that Harry had forgotten what Draco had said earlier. 

"Yes, I suppose it's time to tell you a few things. First of all, and I think you may have been told this already, but Ron, Hermione, and Draco are staying for the remainder of the holiday."

Harry's eyes lit up. "All three of them? Charlie slipped about Ron, but I didn't know about all of them! Well, wait a minute... Draco isn't safe here. There was a reason for him staying at Hogwarts. I don't want him here if he's in danger." 

"Calm down, Potter," Snape said, annoyed. "If he were in danger here, he wouldn't have been able to come today in the first place. There are many wards here to protect you that will also protect anybody else in this house."

"Oh, that's good. But, what about you, Professor?"

Snape sneered. "You want me to stay here? How touching, but I don't think so. I'll be staying at Hogwarts."

"Oh," Harry replied, flushing.

Remus smiled at Harry. "We also have another surprise for you, Harry. Sirius, Draco, Severus, Ron, Hermione, and I pitched in on this."

Sirius grinned as he passed down a long thin box. Harry took it and was a bit startled to feel it vibrating. He opened the paper cautiously and then lifted the lid on the box. From inside, an ebony broom jumped two feet into the air and hovered in front of Harry's awestruck face. A strangled gurgle emitted from his gaping mouth as he raked his eyes over the magnificent broom. It was highly polished, giving it a shiny surface, and all the twigs were immaculately trimmed... Every part of it was so perfect that Harry did not even know if he was worthy of touching it.

"What..." Before he even got his question out, the broom moved to Harry's right so that the end was directly in front of his eyes. "Firebolt XP," he read, awe-struck. "How... how did it know what I was going to ask?" he inquired faintly.

Snape snickered. "I moved it so that you could read it." The entire table broke out into laughter.

"Honestly, Harry," Ron laughed. "A broom reading minds? That's almost as ridiculous as Trelawny making a real prediction."   Harry offered a sheepish smile and ran a finger down the length of the magnificent broom.

"I don't even need a broom. Why did you get me a new one?" 

"Honestly, Harry. Just because you don't need it, doesn't mean we're not allowed to buy you it," Sirius replied smiling.

"But now I have two broo..." Harry looked up and smiled at his best friend. "Hey, Ron. Do you want my Firebolt?"

Ron opened his mouth, but no sound came out for a few moments. "No, I don't want it. I can get my own broom." 

Draco snorted. "Yeah, right. The day you can afford a good broom is the day I _can't_ afford one." Ron's face immediately turned red, as did Harry's. 

Harry elbowed Draco in the side none too nicely. "You great prat!" he hissed at his boyfriend. "I thought you agreed not to say anything about that anymore!" 

Draco sneered but did not say anything. He merely crossed his arms over his chest and stared at the wall. Harry heard himself growl low in his throat but knew it would be useless to get Draco to apologise. "Keep it to yourself," he warned. "Because there isn't anybody here who wants to hear it." Harry then turned back to the red head. "Ron, I'm not trying to... give you charity or anything. I just don't need the darn thing anymore, and you do need one, so take it. I'm not hearing any of your lame arguments about it either."

"Ron, just take it," Hermione demanded. "Harry's just trying to get rid of the extra clutter that would be in his room if he were to keep it." 

"Wha -"   Hermione cut Harry off with a glare, so he quickly nodded. "Wha - ow!" He exclaimed lamely. "Hermione... are you sure you should have dropped Divination? You just read my mind! That's exactly what I was thinking!" Draco snickered at Harry's bad acting but stopped when Harry threw him an angry glare. Even Ron smiled a little and chuckled. 

"Harry, do us all a favour and never take up acting as your profession. I may be a little thick sometimes, but you just blew what Hermione was trying to tell me." 

Hermione let out a frustrated breath and looked at the wall, clearly at her wit's end with Harry. He sighed and looked imploringly at Ron.

"So what? Everything we just said was a lie, but will you please just take it? I honestly wouldn't know what to do with the bugger. What's so wrong with wanting to give your friend a present? I mean, you just gave me one today!" 

"It's your birthday," Ron mumbled. "All right, fine, I'll have it." 

"Great!" Sirius exclaimed. "Now it won't go to waste! Now, Remus and I have one more thing for you, Harry, that has been in our, or rather Remus' safekeeping for the past sixteen years. It was meant for you on your seventeenth birthday so... here you go." Sirius handed Harry a box that could have held a Quaffle or Bludger, and when the younger man took it, the latter was his first thought as to the contents. He nearly dropped it through the table upon grabbing it. "Oh. It's quite heavy. I should have warned you." Harry merely rolled his eyes, set the gift on the table, and began unwrapping it. Inside was a large marble-like, black ball. Emerald eyes turned up to Sirius and Remus in question.

"What is this?"

Remus stood up from his place and came around to take the ball out and set it on the table. "I'll have to say the spell since you're not allowed to do magic."

"But I am allowed to!" Harry exclaimed indignantly. "I'm seventeen now!"

"Oh, right," Remus said sheepishly. "Well, I'll do it anyway and teach it to you later. It takes a few tries to get it anyway."

"What does it do?" Harry inquired.

"I'm not exactly sure," Remus answered truthfully. "They never did tell us, did they Sirius?"

Sirius confirmed that with a shake of his head. "They only said that if we had any questions about it, to ask Dumbledore because he was the one who suggested the idea and, of course, the incantation to get it to work," Sirius replied, looking as eager to see what the ball did as Harry did.

Harry slid to the edge of his seat, eagerly awaiting to see what was going to happen. He could not be sure since Remus had not actually said, but he was quite certain that Remus was speaking of his parents, James and Lily. Seeing that Harry was eagerly waiting, Remus pointed his wand at the ball and said the incantation under his breath. A flash of black emitted from the ball that cast the room into darkness, cutting off all the light that was coming from the large windows around them. Before anybody could say anything, another light projected from the ball, illuminating two figures standing a few feet from Harry.

The young Gryffindor gasped and slid back into his chair. Standing beside Remus were Lily and James Potter. To Harry, they looked like a bad connection to a Muggle television. The James Potter apparition laughed as he looked directly at Harry, which Harry found slightly disorienting since actors on the television never looked directly at you, unless they were news anchors. As they were 3-D, it made it even more disorienting. "We finally got the stupid thing to work!" James Potter laughed.

"Shush, James," Lily Potter admonished. "We only have twenty minutes here." 

"Bloody hell," Sirius said loudly, causing the apparitions to look over at him. 

"Padfoot!" James exclaimed. "You're here too! Oh, and Moony! James did a quick scan of the rest of the company and landed on Snape. "Merlin, Padfoot! What the bloody hell do you have _Snivellus_ in your manor for?" Snape growled low in his throat but did not say anything.   Harry bristled at the subtle reminder at what a prat his father had once been. If James Potter kept this act up, Harry's view of his father would be forever tainted, which was something that Harry did not want.

"Er - I..." Sirius let his mouth hang open, clearly at a loss of words. 

"Severus helped Harry out last term," Remus replied. "He is here for Harry's birthday party today."

Lily elegantly raised an eyebrow. "Severus helped out Harry?" 

"Yeah, why didn't Sirius help him? Or Remus?" James inquired bewildered. Silence reigned down on the occupants of the room.

Harry cleared his throat. "In... incapacitated," he muttered.

Lily, sensing the tension, looked to Snape and smiled gratefully. "Thank you, Severus," she said kindly and sincerely. Harry looked to his potions master with interest to see what his reaction would be. He had gotten the impression in his sixth year that his mother and Snape had been friends in school. Snape shifted a little, met Lily's eyes, and then looked down again.

"You're welcome," he said quietly.

"I'd ask what happened," she continued, " but we don't have much time, and we wanted to see how our son has turned out. I know you must be a little confused right now, Harry, as to how this is happening, but the explanation would take longer than twenty minutes." 

"Plus, we're not allowed to ask many questions," James put in. "We aren't allowed to know what happens to us in the future. I can make a pretty good deduction, since Lily and I aren't with you all right now... but well, we've known something like this might happen. Anyway... we can see that you have a couple of your friends with you right now...."

"Er - y... yes," Harry stuttered. "That's Ron Weasley," he said, pointing at Ron, who waved tentatively and smiled. "And that is Hermione Granger." 

"Granger?" Lily asked. "I've never heard that name in the wizarding world before."

"She's Muggle-born." Harry grinned. "And the best witch in our year."

Hermione blushed as James laughed.   "That sounds like Lily." James then tried to see something behind Harry but gave up. "There's also a person with green hair behind you, but I can't see who it is. He or she seems to be hiding." Harry leaned to his right so that they could see Draco, who was in fact hiding from Harry's parents, as if afraid to be seen by them with such atrocious hair.

"Hello," Draco muttered after sending a death glare at Harry.

"Lucius Malfoy?" James asked incredulous. Draco scowled and pushed Harry back in front of him.

"No... er - dad?" Harry was unsure of this title, but James merely grinned like an idiot. "This is his son, Draco Malfoy. And he has green hair because I pulled him into the fountain in the entrance hall." 

"All right! One up for Gryffindor!"

"James!" Lily admonished again. "He's only assuming you're a Gryffindor, Harry. It's quite all right if you're not though."

"I am." 

Lily offered him a large smile. "I'm glad to see that house rivalry hasn't gotten in the way of you two being friends. I assume that you're in Slytherin, Draco?" 

Draco peeked around from behind Harry, nodded a little and smiled, and then disappeared again.

"Well," James scoffed. "He sure is mild mannered for a Slytherin." 

"He's not usually like that," Ron quickly put in. "He's a right prat most of the time. I think Harry must have broken up with him or something, because he's been sulky all day." Harry immediately tensed up and looked away from his parents, who had confused looks etched on their faces. Ron, who saw Harry tense, clapped his hand over his mouth. "Bugger. I'm sorry. I told you big mouths run in the family, Harry."   Harry shook his head and quickly stood, debating whether to make a run for it, but as if Sirius had been expecting that, he was already there, holding Harry back. He looked at his godfather with a trapped, desperate look in his eyes. Sirius held him gently by the shoulders.

"Harry? What did you ask me just this morning?"

"If... if mum and dad would disown me if they had known." 

"And what was my answer?" 

"They wouldn't, and that they'd love me even more because of it," he whispered. 

Sirius winked. "That's right. Now you can see if my words were the truth. Don't run away. They aren't here for very long." Sirius pushed Harry a little towards his parents and then resumed his seat on the other side of the table. Harry still refused to look into his parents' eyes and looked to his shuffling feet. 

"Harry, look up at us," Lily said quietly. He did look up to see his mother's smiling eyes and his father's contemplative expression. Lily held out her hand, her wedding band glinting brightly in the darkened room. Harry merely looked at it confused as to what he should do. Should he try to take it? If he did, wouldn't his hand go through it?

"Take it, Harry. Dumbledore said we could touch." With a shaking hand, he slowly reached out and let his fingers rest on hers. He let out a happy laugh and slipped his hand in hers, gripping it tightly. His mother's warmth spread through him, and now that he could actually feel her, he seemed to remember being held, sung to, and comforted by her in days long past. He closed his eyes and let the feeling wash through him. When he opened his eyes again, he saw James staring at their joined hands almost longingly. Harry smiled and held out his free hand, offering it to James. He took it, and Harry was pulled into a group hug. Their joined hands dropped, leaving Harry free to wrap one around his dad's waist and one around his mum's. He let his head drop onto James' chest and smiled happily with a hint of sadness. Lily let go of him and let father and son cling to each other in a tight embrace.

"I bet people tell you all the time how much you look like me, don't they?" James whispered.

"Yes. 'You look so much like your father, but you have your mother's eyes,'" Harry spouted off, pulling back slightly with a grin. "And that I get my flying talent from you." Harry's eyes lit up. "Oh! I've always wished I could tell you that I'm Gryffindor's Seeker."

James' brown eyes lit up with excitement. "I knew it! I knew you'd be a Seeker. Just the other day, you were sitting on the floor in the living room, and out of nowhere you caught a fly with your hand." James looked down at his son with shining eyes. "You just shot that pudgy little hand up, grabbed that thing out of mid-air, and squeezed so hard." James sighed and looked at his son proudly. "I bet you're wonderful," he sighed. 

"He is," Draco drawled from behind them. "He's only lost one game and that was in third year. And he made it on the team in his first year, and from what I understand, he had never even been on a broom before." Harry flushed from the combination of the unexpected compliment from his boyfriend and his father's look of admiration. 

"Yeah well, it never would have happened if Draco hadn't been acting like the prat he was, and still is, and stolen Neville's Rememberall during our first flying lesson."

James smirked and looked at Draco.   "Well, thank you for getting my son on the Quidditch team!" 

Draco only scowled. "I'm still not too happy about it," he muttered. "Harry makes me look like a bloody fool every time Slytherin plays against them." 

Harry smiled a little. "Draco's the Slytherin Seeker," he informed his parents. 

"And you still manage to be friends?" James asked incredulously. "I don't understand it."

Harry laughed nervously. "Yeah."

"Harry?" Lily inquired, taking his hand once again. He looked at their joined hands for a moment, finally deciding to suck it up and tell his parents. 

"Okay. I'm.... Draco is..." He cast another desperate look towards Sirius, who merely nodded and winked. "Er - what I mean to say is, Draco is... my... my boyfriend." He took a deep breath, ready for his parents to blow up, even though they had already basically been told of Harry's preference for boys. Harry only became more nervous, however, when James started laughing. The only thought running through his mind was that James did not believe him and thought it was some elaborate joke. "I'm serious." 

"Oh, I know you are, Harry, and I'm sorry for laughing, but it just struck me as funny. We already added two and two together when your friend Ron over there told us his reasoning for Draco's silence. We didn't shun you then, now did we?" 

"Well, no, but..."

"I know it took courage to tell us," Lily said. "I'm glad you did, instead of leaving it go unsaid. I don't know about your father, but it tells me a lot about what kind of person you are. Come here, Harry." She spread her arms, and Harry immediately fell into them, embracing her just as he had hugged his father minutes before. "You seem to have turned out to be an outstanding young man and I think I speak for James when I say that we're both very proud of you." 

Harry smiled widely as he pulled his head back and looked at her. "Thank you, mum." 

"You're most welcome." She pulled her arms from around him, held his head between her hands, and kissed all over Harry's face. She stopped for a moment when she pulled back his fringe, no doubt noticing the scar, but decided against asking and kissed the scar instead. "My beautiful little boy," she whispered softly as she pulled him to her again. "I love you so much, Harry."

"I love you too, mum." The two pulled away from each other, and Lily looked to Draco. 

"Come here, Draco." The blond, or rather not-so-blond boy stood up nervously and approached his boyfriend's long dead mother. "Hello. It's nice to meet you." 

"Likewise, Mrs. Potter."

"Call me Lily." She turned to James. "How much time do we have left?"

James looked off in a different direction and then answered.   "About eight minutes." 

Lily nodded and turned back to Draco. "I'll be quite honest, Draco," Lily began. "I never trusted your father and never quite liked him either -"

"You and me both then." 

"Oh," she smiled, trying to hold back her surprise. "You have obviously shown that you care about Harry, if he is with you, and have shown your loyalty to him, if he trusts you. Being his mother, I trust his judgement. I know a little of how Lucius can be, through what Severus told me, and it makes me a little nervous about how your father is taking your relationship with Harry. And... well, for as long as you're with him, just keep him from your father, please. I don't want any harm coming to him."

Draco's mouth quirked up in a small smile the way Harry knew it always did when he thought of where his father was at the moment, unless of course, those thoughts included his mother. "I can assure you that even if Harry was in danger from Lucius, I would make sure your wishes were granted. As it is, Lucius is in Azkaban and no longer a danger to anybody. He doesn't even know of our relationship."

"Well, then, Draco," James said. "As long as you're in Harry's life, consider yourself a member of our family, no matter how small it may be nowadays. If you do hurt him though, I will know, I don't know how, but I will rise up from my grave (I'm only assuming I'm dead), and haunt you for the rest of your natural born life." 

"Dad!" James raised his hands in mock surrender. "I'm only telling the truth, Harry. It'd be the same if I were really there with you now." 

Lily laughed, shaking her head. "Don't worry, Draco. He has no idea what he's talking about. He won't ever know if you hurt Harry." She reached out and pulled a very surprised Draco into a hug. "Take care of my baby for me." 

"Erm - I will," Draco said as he broke free only to have his hand grasped by James. 

"You seem like a better man than your father." Harry smiled as he saw Draco's silver eyes light up for a moment in happiness, but then they went back to his usual mask of indifference.

"Thank you, Mr. Potter." Harry knew that it was all that needed to be said between them. James could not have given Draco a better compliment. 

"Five minutes," James muttered. "Sirius, Remus, get over here," he commanded, and the two men sprang to their feet and hurried over. Remus and James exchanged words that could not be heard while Sirius spoke to Lily and embraced her tightly. They exchanged people, and James was speaking quietly to Sirius, seeming to be reassuring him about something, and then they also embraced. Ron and Hermione came and stood on Harry's left side, offering him a little support. James nodded at them. "It was nice meeting you two, however brief it was. Help Sirius, Remus, and Draco take care of him for us." 

"We will, Mr. Potter," both Hermione and Ron answered at the same time.

"We always do," Hermione added.

Lily grinned broadly. "I'm glad he found such great friends. Hey, Severus," she added turning to the potions master who was still sitting at the table. "Come here."

The intimidating man stood and walked forward with what seemed to be trepidation. Lily immediately hugged him and said a few things to him that he responded to in a low tone. James only inclined his head slightly at him, and Snape did the same before he walked back to his seat.

"Harry," James said. "Let's say goodbye. We have a minute now." 

Harry wasted no time in stepping forward and being engulfed by both of his parents once again. Subconsciously, he reached up and started fingering his mother's long hair as he buried his face in her shoulder. The small family clung together, trying to make it last forever.

"I don't want to say goodbye," Harry whispered. "I miss you both." 

"We know. But we have to," James answered. "I love you, and I'm as proud of you as your mother claims I am."

Harry wrapped his arm around his mother's neck, never letting go of her hair, and moved to his father's shoulder. "I love you, too, Dad." He lifted his head and smiled cheekily at his father. "I do look a lot like you, but I think you're a bit more geeky looking, especially when you purposely mess up your hair." Harry shuddered.

Both of his parents let out a loud laugh, and James kissed the top of his head. "I don't how you know about that, but it wasn't me." Harry smiled and stepped away, grabbing a hold of each of their hands. "We have ten seconds," James noted. Harry quickly kissed his mum's cheek. 

"Goodbye, Harry," they said at the same time. "Take care of yourself." 

"I will."

With one final squeeze of hands, James and Lily Potter disappeared from view and the room was flooded with light once more, making all occupants blink owlishly trying to get their pupils to dilate. Harry's hands dropped to his sides, and he stood staring at the spot that his parents had just occupied, unable to believe that he had finally had a chance to speak with them, hug them, tell them he was okay, and that he loved them. He smiled.

The occupants of the room were now in a state of shock as they continued to stare at the black ball. Harry began to speak, but stopped when the object began to glow a mysterious red. Right before their very eyes, the ball cracked, hissing as it steamed. Harry watched it warily as it seemed to rotate by itself, and before anybody could do anything, it shot a jet of red light towards Harry and hit him in the chest. He went flying backwards into one of the windows. Luckily, they had been charmed to be unbreakable so Harry merely bounced off the windows and onto the floor. He lay in shock for a few moments before pulling himself up to stare incredulously at the heavy ball. It was resealing itself, and the light faded just as quickly as it had come. It now seemed perfectly harmless. 

"Harry? Are you all right?" Sirius broke him from his reverie. He turned, faced his godfather, and smiled.

"I'm perfect. How are you?" he answered in all honesty. His back hurt a little from hitting the window, but other than that, he felt extremely content. The light had sent a warm shock throughout his body, making him feel very happy and calm. 

Sirius grinned. "I'm wonderful. Did that light hurt you?" 

"No. It made me feel really good actually."

Sirius sighed in obvious relief and helped his godson up. "Did you like that?" 

"It was definitely unexpected, but it was great," Harry replied honestly. "Would I ever be able to watch that again?" 

"That, Harry, is possible, but you are only allowed to go through the actions, not say anything. That is how it happened for James and Lily sixteen years ago and that can't be changed," came a voice from the doorway. Everybody jumped and turned towards the voice.

"Professor Dumbledore!" Harry exclaimed. "How long have you been here?" 

"Since James said they had five minutes. I never did find out if they got that to work," the old man said, his eyes twinkling mischievously as he walked to them. "It seems that they did."

"What was that thing, Professor?" Harry asked curiously.

Dumbledore seemed to ponder this for a few moments before answering. "Come to think of it, I never did find a name for it when I figured out how to work it. It's the only one in the world, and what is known about it is kept in my head. I decided to let Lily and James use it since it could fit both of your their needs. This was a practice run, and let me say, it's been a long wait to see if it worked." His expression grew serious. "I must impress upon you to keep that safe. I am entrusting it to your care. I will give you more information on its care and how to reuse it at a later time. Right now, there is something that I have come here to tell you about, Harry. Since last summer, you have been getting along with your cousin, Dudley, am I correct?"

"Yes, I have. He's been nice to me since my birthday last year, and we've been writing to each other since the beginning of last term."

"When is the last time he wrote?"

"Er - it has been a while. He wrote me in April, and I wrote back around the beginning of May, but he never wrote back." Harry paused, swallowing. "In fact, Hedwig never did come back from that trip. I haven't wanted to think about it, but..." 

"Why didn't you say anything about Hedwig, Harry?" Sirius asked. 

Harry shrugged helplessly. "I was hoping she'd come back. But, what about Dudley, Professor? Is he all right?"

Dumbledore stared at Harry soberly. "I won't beat around the bush as Muggles like to say. Harry... Dudley disappeared about a week before his school let out for the summer holidays."

"What? Is he all right? Have they found him?" 

"Yes, they have found him, just yesterday in fact. He was found in a Muggle alley, near the Leaky Cauldron. I'm sorry, Harry, but Dudley is dead." 

* * *

**A/N:** Dun dun dun! Sorry... I had to say it. It seemed like one of those moments. I forgot to mention my thanks to my betas, Padfoots_Bitch and Capricious Sylph. Just because I didn't mention you above, doesn't mean I don't appreciate you! Oh, and check out my LiveJournal for random babbles and thoughts on my stories. The link is on the top of my bio. Just click on my name above!

_Special thanks go to:_ **broken hearter, JadeSpider, jade22882, Nox, wintermoon, Rainbow-wolf, ddz008, xangel688, Harry Pothead, Rin, Werewolf Child,Lover of Draco, Isis Reborn, Thistle, Devilita, LenaLovely12, HironiKoshinha, firefly, Sailor Grape, DarkSiren666, HogwartsSaiyajin, Dracoluvah, Party Girl, Tabbi, bakachan, Pawprints, Shade Azune, and Cassie.**  
I want to say something in reply to your wonderful reviews, but I honestly don't have any words. I'm touched that I'm seeing some familiar names from Darkness and I love that I'm seeing some new names as well. Your reviews are lovely. Thank you!

* * *

_Teaser_:

The pew squeaked to the left of the Gryffindor and he looked over to see a girl of about eleven sitting next to him, staring up at him with large green eyes. "Hi, Harry," she greeted quietly. "I was looking for you. I was told to either find you or Austin, and he isn't anywhere around here yet."

"Oh, well here I am." He smiled gently at the girl, not finding it odd that she knew his name, or the fact that he knew hers. "Where did mum go, Sierra?" he whispered quietly.

  "I think she went to the bathroom or something." The girl named Sierra scowled a little and swung her long black hair over her shoulder where it fell to the middle of her back. "I wish she would have let me wear my hair up today. It's so hot and it keeps falling in my face," she complained. "Hopefully she'll let me cut it a little before I start Hogwarts this September, right Harry?"

  "Yes. I think you'd look great with a new haircut." Sierra smiled brightly, as though very pleased with Harry's compliment, and folded her hands neatly in her lap, ready for the funeral proceedings to begin. Harry smiled a little and turned to the front as well. Everybody was nearly seated, and he noticed that his godfather and former professor were seated next to Ron.

  "Hey." Draco elbowed him in the side. "Who were you just talking to?"

  "Oh, Sierra. Who else?"

  Draco looked a bit confused. "Who's Sierra?"

  "She's sitting right..." Harry looked over and found that she was gone. 


	3. One Letter And A Father

**Remember You**

Chapter Three

~~~~~

_"Yes, they have found him, just yesterday in fact. He was found in a Muggle alley near the Leaky Cauldron. I'm sorry, Harry, but Dudley is dead."_

Harry stared and began to wonder why all the oxygen was being sucked out of the room. He felt himself stumble backwards, but somebody was there to catch him. He did not know who it was, but he also did not care. After being seated, Harry blinked his eyes rapidly, trying to clear the fog from them to look at the Headmaster more clearly. "I... I'm sorry, what did you say, sir?"

Dumbledore walked forward and sat tiredly in the chair before Harry. "I'm sorry, Harry. There was really nothing anybody could have done. None of us, myself included, ever thought that your cousin would be in danger-"

"What? In danger? In danger of what, exactly?" Harry asked furiously. "Tell me this hasn't got anything to do with Voldemort."

The Headmaster sighed and nodded his head gravely. "It was Death Eaters that did it. As I just told you, Dudley was found in an alley, but by a wizard. The Leaky Cauldron has recently put up new wards so that nobody can just Apparate in directly, and they set the designated Apparition area in an alley a block away. While he was making a trip to Diagon Alley, a wizard from the Magical Law Enforcement Unit stumbled upon him. When he checked Dudley's body, he found signs of the Cruciatus curse and other various Dark curses. He brought your cousin into the Ministry straight away."

Harry swallowed thickly and looked down at his hands. "So... he was tortured to death? No quick, Avada Kedavra. They had to torture him to death." Harry's voice was completely void of expression.

"Yes, I'm afraid so, Harry."

"How... how are Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon doing?"

"As well as they can be. I won't lie to you, Harry; your Aunt isn't doing very well at all. I was with them for thirty minutes today after I left your party, and she only spoke a couple words. When she did speak, she asked of you."

"Me?"

"Yes. She asked for you to attend the funeral and even wanted you as a pallbearer, though Mr. Dursley did not want that. Sirius and your friends may go as well, if they want.

"When is it?" Harry whispered.

"It's tomorrow at one." Dumbledore was silent for a couple moments as he took in Harry's grief-stricken face. There seemed to be something running rapidly through the Gryffindor's mind. "Anything you'd like to ask me, Harry?" he finally asked.

Harry looked up and met the Headmaster's blue eyes. "Yes. Why did they kill him? Why Dudley? He never did anything to them! And what about Hedwig?"

"I haven't heard anything of Hedwig. I'll admit that I haven't been keeping an eye or ear out for her because I didn't know that she was missing. I'll ask around though. As for Dudley, we are still trying to figure out why he was a target. There are some very suspicious circumstances that we are looking at. It seems that Dudley wrote his mother a letter last August, of which the contents I have not read, so I cannot tell you what it said. We think that he never gave it to anybody until he arrived at school. His friend, Piers..."

"Piers Polkiss," Harry offered.

"Yes. Mr. Polkiss was in possession of this particular letter since the beginning of term. He tells us that Dudley gave him the letter, saying that if something should happen to him, to give that letter to his mother."

Harry was silent but Remus spoke up in a confused tone. "But that sounds like he knew he was in danger for some reason. How could he have known?"

Sirius shifted uncomfortably.

Dumbledore shook his head gravely. "The Ministry is on it. Luckily, one of the Aurors who is on the case is also in the Order. I'll be getting an updated report tonight."

"Thank you for coming to tell us, Professor Dumbledore," Harry said quietly and then stood. "I'm going to my room."

He left before anybody could comment. As the dark-haired boy was beginning to ascend the stairs, soft footsteps hurried to him and stopped his progress by gently grabbing his arm.   "Harry? Are you all right?" He turned to see Draco looking up at him, concerned. Harry smiled a little and pulled his boyfriend so that they were standing on the same step.

"Honestly? No. But I will be soon enough."

"You know that whatever reason it was for the Death Eaters to kill him, it wasn't your fault, right?"

The Gryffindor tried to say yes, but his throat seemed to be stuck and he just barely managed a nod. He felt like he was lying to himself. Of course it was his fault for Dudley being murdered. If Harry had not so willingly let Dudley into his life the previous summer.... Harry shook his head. It was too painful to think about. "I'm sorry, Draco, but. But I just want to be alone right now, okay?" Draco nodded, squeezed Harry's hand, and walked back down the stairs. Harry watched him go and felt a small smile tease his mouth. 

"Hey, Malfoy?" he said mischievously. Draco looked up at him with an eyebrow raised.

"Yes, Potter?"

"Don't kill Ron and Hermione while I'm gone, huh?"

Draco smirked. "I think I've told you countless times, Potter... I make no promises."

Seeming to sense that Harry needed a little joking around, Draco continued, "Just go sod off, Potter. I won't use my fire on them."

Harry grinned and chuckled a little before walking towards Draco again and wrapping his arms around his waist. "Dragons can't tame their fire, Draco."

"Fine. I won't use my teeth then."

"That's better," Harry grinned before letting his mouth caress Draco's in a very brief, soft kiss. Harry pulled away to head to his room, but, Draco pulled Harry back and kissed him deeply. When they pulled back, both of their eyes were shining.

"You're such a silly sod, Potter," Draco said affectionately.

"Oh really? Why's that?"

"I don't know." Draco shrugged.

Harry smiled and leaned his forehead on his boyfriend's shoulder. He knew that it was Draco's way of showing his feelings for the Gryffindor. Draco was known for his gag reflex if there were too many "I love you"'s thrown around. As Harry stood with Draco, his thoughts turned back to Dudley. How exactly had he been tortured? Had he been conscience during all of it? Harry drew a shuddering breath and pulled away.

"I need to be alone now. I'm going to go to my room, and remember, no teeth."

Draco rolled his eyes, ruffled Harry's hair, and walked away. As soon as the green-haired Slytherin was out of sight, Harry turned and walked quickly up to his bedroom, shut the door, and flung himself onto his spacious bed. The window beside the bed had been left open by a house elf in the course of the day, and a soft breeze wafted in, causing the curtains to gently wave. The sun was halfway under the horizon and the moon was already up with a lone star beside it. Cheery birds were in their respective trees, singing happily for the day's end, singing for the carefree life they led, singing happily because the birds probably never had to know the pain that the death of a loved one caused. They also did not know what it was like to feel responsible for that soul's death. Those birds were possibly the happiest and luckiest beings on earth, in Harry's opinion.

He briefly wished that he could have a life that carefree, then he would not have to know any of this pain he was feeling now. Harry sighed sadly, hugging his knees to his chest. Dudley Dursley was the sole occupant of Harry's thoughts.

The larger boy had never been nice to Harry in their younger years... Dudley had never shown any kind of respect, never smiled at Harry, never defended him, never apologised for beating him up all the time. That is, until last summer. What had happened? Had Dudley felt obligated to befriend Harry because he was feeling sorry for him, or because some faceless Death Eater was threatening him? Maybe it had even been Voldemort threatening Dudley. No matter the reason, it still angered Harry. If Dudley had not befriended Harry of his own accord, it was Voldemort again playing with Harry's emotions. The Dark Lord knew just which buttons to push to get Harry upset. It had everything to do with family and friends.

Family - the thing that the Gryffindor had always wished for in all those dark hours in the cupboard under the stairs, in all those times when his aunt and uncle were yelling at him. In all the many times when they were lavishing Dudley with love and affection through words, actions, or presents. Harry had been denied everything including a loving family while growing up and Voldemort knew that was a sore spot. And why should he not know? Tom Riddle had experience in the matter, after all.

Friends - they had also been denied to him throughout his childhood. Every day at school was torment because there was no one who wanted to befriend the freaky little boy with large, black glasses, messy hair, and a strange scar on his forehead. He was also the boy whom Dudley's gang hated so much. Nobody went against the word of Dudley's gang. Whenever a new person enrolled in school, Harry's hopes would soar for a few seconds, maybe even minutes, at the prospect that maybe this person would be his new best friend - his first best friend. But, then as the new student looked for an empty seat, which there was always one near Harry right at the front, his classmates would yell out to not sit by him and the new student would look at him as if he had cooties and move to the furthest empty seat from him. His spirit would be crushed for a few moments, but then he would look forward for the next new student to come along. Maybe that person would want to be his new best friend.

Voldemort had hit upon both of these sore spots with Harry the previous year. He took over Sirius, the only father figure Harry had ever known and, through Sirius, had made Harry's friends hate him. Now it looked as though Dudley was all a set-up, and there was nothing to right the wrong between the cousins. There would never be another chance for Harry to really become friends with Dudley Dursley. It was a prospect that he still found mind-boggling in the least, but it did not seem quite so far-fetched anymore. It felt right. It felt exciting, it. It felt like gaining a part of himself. But it was gone. The opportunity was gone before Harry could even take a firm hold of it.

A quiet knock sounded at the door, jolting Harry from his thoughts. "Come in," he said quietly, though loud enough for the person outside to hear.

The door opened soundlessly, emitting a very worried Sirius Black. "Hey," he said, closing the door behind him.

"Hello."

"How are you doing, Harry?"

Harry scowled just a little, thinking that to be a very ignorant question, but he answered it anyway.   "I'm all right."

Sirius nodded and sat beside Harry on the bed. The younger Gryffindor did not even realise that there were silent tears flowing down his face until Sirius wiped them gently away. He softly started to run his hand through the black mess on top of Harry's head. "Do you think he ever really liked me, Sirius? I mean... I know it might be a little selfish to think of now that he's.... you know, but it kind of makes me wonder all the same. I was starting to like him."

Sirius shifted. "I couldn't really say if he did or not. I would think that he did. I don't see why he wouldn't, after all. You're likeable enough, aren't you?" Sirius grinned slightly. 

"Yeah," Harry forced a small smile as well. "I guess I am."

"Of course you are," Sirius assured. They were silent for a few moments before Sirius spoke up again. "I was going to tell you that we'll need to go for a quick shopping trip tomorrow morning, because I know you don't have any Muggle suits."

"Okay. You're wearing a Muggle suit too?"

"Well, I don't think that whole lot of Muggles would appreciate the wizarding attire, now would they?"

"No, I suppose not. Sirius?" 

"Yes?"

"Could you... I mean... could you not wear that suit you wore to the Dursley's last summer?"

Harry could not meet his godfather's eyes as he said this. Sirius tensed slightly but continued to rub small circles on Harry's shoulder blade with his hand, where it had moved to a few minutes earlier. "I honestly wasn't planning on it. In fact... I burned it."

The dark-haired boy looked up sharply at the other man. "What?"

Sirius nodded and smiled grimly. "I couldn't stand looking at that thing. I mean... it was what I was wearing when I screwed everything up again."

"Again? What do you mean?"

His godfather sighed and looked out at the rapidly darkening sky. "I mean, Harry, I already screwed up with your parents by trusting Wormtail. Then I messed up again with you."

Harry sighed deeply. "I've told you before... it is not your fault for trusting Pettigrew. All of you trusted him and none of you had reason to suspect otherwise. And if there were any signs, they were too small to catch. And last year... it just wasn't your fault. I've told you before."

Sirius turned to his godson, smiling just a little. "Sometimes I feel like the seventeen-year-old, and you're the thirty-seven-year-old."

"Well, you need to be taken care of just as much as I do, so get used to it, I say." Harry offered the cheekiest grin he could muster up. Sirius shook his head in amusement and pulled his godson to him in a bruising hug. "What I'd do without you, Harry... I have no idea." Harry sighed in content, choosing not to say anything. He was positive that Sirius knew he felt the same way. They were essential to each other to stay alive. "I brought you some dreamless sleep potion if you'd like."

"Yes, I'd like that," he replied even as his scar started to burn a little. He winced and rubbed it a little. "I might have a dream tonight otherwise. I think Voldemort's angry enough to take it out on me and send me a dream."

Reaching into his robe, Sirius pulled out a small vial and placed it on the bedside table. "Go get into your pyjamas and brush your teeth, then you can take this."

"What about Ron, Hermione, and Draco?"

"They're fine. They are in the guest rooms closest to yours and I believe I heard Draco persuading Hermione into switching with him, so that he could be in the room that has the passageway to your drawing room. I made the mistake of mentioning its existence."

Harry chuckled a little, imagining the excitement in Draco's eyes as he heard Sirius saying that their rooms were connected. In Harry's room there were four doors. One led out into the main hallway, one out onto the balcony, one into the bathroom, and one to a staircase that went up to the fourth floor. The fourth floor was a bit of a mystery to Harry. The only way that you could get to the fourth floor was by finding one of the secret passageways on the third floor. Sirius had informed Harry that there was no hallway on the fourth floor and that he had yet to find all of the rooms. Harry's, and now Draco's, passageway was the easiest to find and had been known since the house was built almost two hundred years ago.

The intention for the fourth floor had been for it to be like any other floor, but it had taken on a mind of its own. "Well, that doesn't mean he'll be able to find the door into my room. In fact, I'm kind of worried that he won't be able to find his way back into his own room."

It was easy to get into Harry's drawing room, but getting out was a completely different matter. In Harry's bedroom there was the normal door, but once inside the drawing room, you had to pull open a specific drawer in an apothecary cabinet for the door to appear. The door to get into Draco's was the same, except you one had to pull open a drawer on the desk.

"You're right," Sirius said after a lengthy pause. "Well, if he disappears, we know where he is." Harry grinned as his godfather got a mischievous sparkle in his eye and ruffled his hair. "I think I'll go suggest for him to go up there."

"Sirius! No! I won't be in the mood to go rescue him tonight." 

His face softened as he looked at his godson. "You're right again. I'll leave him alone tonight then. Go get ready for bed. I'll be in here bright and early for us to go shopping. Oh, and your friends offered to come, if you wanted them to." Harry answered with a nod of approval. "All right. Sleep well, then."

"Goodnight, Sirius." His godfather smiled again and left the room, leaving Harry to get into his pyjamas and take his dreamless sleep potion. After he did all this, he was asleep before his head was on the pillow.

***

Harry wiggled his tie around uncomfortably. He was used to wearing ties, as he was required to during school, but for some reason, this tie seemed oddly constraining and it suffocated. Maybe it was just the fact that he was on his way to a funeral. He was dressed in black Armani (Sirius had insisted on the best). His messy hair was straining against the hair gel that Draco had dumped on it, and odd hairs were sticking up all over the place.

The Gryffindor buckled himself into the seat by a window and watched as Draco climbed in the car beside him, followed by Hermione and Ron on the opposite side. Sirius and Remus were up front, Remus driving, but the students could not see as a thick curtain was blocking the view. Sirius owned a Rolls Royce. It looked normal on the outside, but it was bigger than a limo on the inside. Harry thought it to be a bit above his level, but liked it all the same. Draco brought Harry out of his musings by Draco trying to smooth out his hair again. He batted the pale hand away.

"It's not going to work and you know it, Draco! So stop it!"

"Doesn't mean I can't try," he replied, trying to make a piece of hair lay down obediently. When it did not work, the Slytherin sat back with a sigh. "Well, if I still have to have green hair, I guess you can go looking like a fool with your hair standing out all over the place."

"It's not like it's anything new," Harry muttered irritated.

"Rug mop," Draco said quietly, looking at his boyfriend's hair. 

Harry creased his brow. "What?"

"Er - wha'? I... I said Rug mop."

"Why?"

"Your hair is a rug mop."

"What's a rug mop?" Harry asked.

"A mop that's shaggy... I guess."

Harry rolled his eyes and looked out the window at the passing scenery.   "Oompa loompa," Harry muttered after a few moments, and Hermione burst into giggles. Harry looked at his boyfriend to see his cheeks glowing a light pink, either in embarrassment or anger, Harry could not tell. Whatever the cause, Harry did not care. He still could not get over how sexy Draco looked in a Muggle suit. Sirius had insisted upon buying everybody new Muggle clothes, and they had managed to get Draco into them without getting injured... just barely. It had been a close call. Harry leaned in at this point and put his mouth near Draco's ear.

"You look damn sexy in those clothes."

If anything, Draco turned even more pink and avoided Harry's gaze. The Gryffindor chuckled a little and looked back out the window, thoughts returning to Dudley.

*

As the group of wizards and one witch entered the church in Little Whinging, Harry could not help but become tense. This was the church that he and the Dursleys had come to every Christmas and Easter, and it did not bring back many good memories. Sirius, who was walking beside Harry, noticed his body language and put a comforting hand on his shoulder. Harry offered a grateful smile before looking ahead of him to where Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon could be seen standing by a closed casket. Both were dressed all in black and Aunt Petunia's eyes were red and swollen. A sharp pain of guilt stabbed into Harry's stomach as he looked at her.

It was his fault that Dudley was dead. It was his fault that she was in this state right now. Everything was his fault. Harry bit his lip to keep it from trembling and continued forward. At that moment, Aunt Petunia looked up and spotted him. To the Gryffindor's surprise, she gave a loud cry of relief and flung herself onto Harry, hugging him fiercely.

"Harry! I'm so glad you're here," she cried into his shoulder. He was a bit startled to realise that he was now two inches taller than his aunt. Had he really grown that much? Pushing the thoughts aside, he clung to his aunt, offering the comfort she needed and taking as much comfort as he could from a person that he had always strove for acceptance with.

"I wouldn't miss it, Aunt Petunia. I'm so sorry," he apologised, meaning it in more than one way. "This shouldn't have happened."

She pulled away and smiled tiredly. "Well, at least I still have you with me, right? I've been thinking of ideas on how to decorate your room--" Harry gave Sirius a frightened look as Aunt Petunia kept speaking about what they were going to do with Harry's room, and found that Sirius was looking a bit surprised.

"Let her down gently," Sirius whispered. Harry gulped and took his Aunt's hand.

"Aunt Petunia," he interrupted her. "I'm sure that you remember that I... well, that I live with Sirius now. I don't live with you anymore.... I'm sorry."

The older woman looked so confused for a few moments as she studied Harry, then her face collapsed in defeat. "I'm sorry, Harry. This must be a bit awkward for you. I've just been a bit out of it the past couple days. I don't quite feel like myself anymore."

"It's okay. I understand what you must be going through."

Uncle Vernon then gently pushed his wife aside and narrowed his beady eyes on Harry. "Boy, I know Petunia invited you and your... _friends_ here, but if you do any of that... funny business--"

"You know I'm not allowed to in the summer, and Sirius and Remus are smarter than to do anything in front of Mugg... normal people like you, Uncle Vernon."

"Yes, well... all the same." Vernon looked around conspiratorially and then lowered his voice. "I know Dudley died because of your... _kind_. Everything has gone wrong in our lives since you were dropped on our doorstep, and if I ever see you again after today, it will definitely be too soon." Harry clenched his jaw to keep from retorting as Vernon thrust a large hand into his pocket, withdrew an envelope, and thrust it at Harry. "Here," he grunted. "This came in the letter that Dudley wrote to us. He wanted it to be given to you."

Immediately after giving the letter to Harry, Vernon was swept away by his sister Marge, who sent a nasty glare at Harry. He ignored her and put the letter into his inside coat pocket to read later. The other members of Harry's party were all speaking with Aunt Petunia, giving out their condolences, so Harry went and took a seat on one of the front pews, making sure to sit far enough in so that five people could sit next to him. Draco soon joined him at his right and they secretly entwined hands. Draco squeezed Harry's as if asking if Harry was all right, and the squeeze that Harry sent back answered that question. 'I'll be fine.'

Hermione and Ron then sat next to Draco and the three of them began to converse quietly, no doubt talking about Aunt Petunia since they were sending glances her way as she spoke to Sirius and Remus. The pew squeaked to the left of the Gryffindor and he looked over to see a girl of about eleven sitting next to him, staring up at him with large green eyes.

"Hi, Harry," she greeted quietly. "I was looking for you. I was told to either find you or Austin, and he isn't anywhere around here yet."

"Oh, well here I am." He smiled gently at the girl, not finding it odd that she knew his name, or the fact that he knew hers. "Where did Mum go, Sierra?" he whispered quietly.

"I think she went to the bathroom or something." The girl named Sierra scowled a little and swung her long black hair over her shoulder where it fell to the middle of her back. "I wish she would have let me wear my hair up today. It's so hot and it keeps falling in my face," she complained. "Hopefully she'll let me cut it a little before I start Hogwarts this September, right Harry?"

"Yes. I think you'd look great with a new haircut." Sierra smiled brightly, as though very pleased with Harry's compliment, and folded her hands neatly in her lap, ready for the funeral proceedings to begin. Harry smiled a little and turned to the front as well. Everybody was nearly seated, and he noticed that his godfather and former professor were seated next to Ron.

"Hey." Draco elbowed him in the side. "Who were you just talking to?"

"Oh, Sierra. Who else?"

Draco looked a bit confused. "Who's Sierra?"

"She's sitting right..." Harry looked over and found that she was gone. "Oh, she must have gone to find Mum. She's a sneaky little devil sometimes."

"Are you feeling all right, Harry? I've never heard you speaking about anybody named Sierra before."

"I always do, Draco," Harry smiled. "You just have to listen more closely."

"But-"

"Shh. It's starting."

***

The funeral passed in a blur. There was rarely a time in that day that Harry actually registered what he was doing. The only time he knew was when he was looking for Sierra. He hadn't had any luck. Sierra had disappeared. This did not sadden Harry because he knew he would see her again, it was just a matter of when he would see her again.

Three days after the funeral, when Harry woke up from a thankfully dream-free night's sleep, he bounded down the many flights of stairs, only to have a near-collision with a very red-headed man. "Oh, I'm sorry, Ro... Charlie! What are you doing here?" he asked in surprise once he realised that it was not his best friend but his best friend's brother.

"Hello, Harry," Charlie replied. "How are you doing?"

"I'm fine, thanks. How are you?"

"As well as can be expected. I heard about your cousin, Harry. I'm sorry."

"Oh... it's all right. I think I'll get by."

"I'm sure. You do have a lot of support around you, don't you?" Harry replied with a small nod and smile. "Sirius also tells me that Dudley sent you a final letter as well."

Harry stopped. He did not like people reminding him of it. He had read it so often on his own, that he did not like to think of it while he was with people.

"Yes. I did," Harry replied shortly. "So... what are you doing here anyway? I mean, not that I'm not glad to see you, but well, I rarely ever see you!"

"I'm here on Order business, actually, so I'm not allowed to say, but I'm going to be staying here for a while. We're not quite sure how long, but we'll see when the time comes, won't we?"

He offered a cheeky smile that made Harry catch his breath. The younger Gryffindor smiled shakily and nodded.   "What about the dragons in Romania? Aren't you doing that anymore?"

"Of course. I'm just taking a leave of absence for a while. I will probably end up regretting it though, since I'll probably be out of shape when I go back."

"Well, you can always play Quidditch with Ron, Draco, and I, when we play and if you have time. It'll keep you somewhat in shape."

Charlie smiled again. "Yeah, that'd be good. You can show me just how good you are at being Seeker. I don't think we've ever had the chance to play against each other."

"No, but that would be fun. You'll probably kick my arse."

"Doubtful, Harry. I've seen you fly... You're amazing up there."

The red head reached out and gently touched Harry's elbow, making him blush at the contact and compliment.   "Erm - thanks. But you are better than me--"

"Hey, Potter!" drawled a voice behind the two men. Harry whirled around and found himself looking at a very irate Slytherin. Charlie, however, did not seem to see notice this, as Draco was good at hiding his feelings from people who did not know him well. Of course, Harry, knew Draco well enough to know that he was very upset at the moment.

"Yes, Draco?"

"You're missing breakfast," he replied shortly.

"I'll be there. It's nothing to get worked up over."

"Yes, it is," Draco ground out. "Breakfast... is the most important meal of the day according to Granger. Now get moving."

"Sheesh. Fine, I'm coming. Are you hungry, Charlie? I'm sure there's still food in there, even though Sirius has probably gone through almost all the food already."

If anything, Draco glared more at both Gryffindors.   "No, thanks. I've already eaten. My Mum insisted on making me a huge breakfast this morning before I left. I'll be free in a couple hours though. Would you, Draco, Ron, and Hermione like to go swimming in the _lake_?" he asked, pointedly staring at Draco's hair, which still had a tint of green in it.

Draco growled low in his throat but replied anyway. "As long as the bloody lake doesn't have green dye in it, I'm fine."

Charlie laughed heartily and slapped Draco on the back, making the blond scowl deeply. "I don't think we'll have a problem there. I should go and find Sirius now. We have a bit of work to do. I'll see you boys later then."

"Okay," Harry replied and watched as Charlie ascended the staircase. Draco roughly grabbed his arm and pulled him down the hall to where breakfast was being served. "Calm down, Draco. What the hell is the problem?"

"Weasel, Weasel, Weasel. That's my problem. Why does there have to be so many of them? I thought it was rabbits that had millions of babies, not weasels."

Harry wrenched his arm from Draco's grasp and stalked ahead of his boyfriend. "I don't like it when you call them weasels. They are the nicest people you'll ever have the privilege of meeting."

"Well, I'm sorry if I generally don't like people who try to steal my boyfriend away."

Harry whirled around, scowling. "For one, Charlie is just a flirty guy. He doesn't like me in that way. For another, you don't have to worry. I'm not going to cheat on you. I don't want a death by Draco Malfoy, thanks. I never thought a Malfoy could be so insecure."

Draco turned pink and his eyes livid. "I'm not insecure. Do I look and sound like a person who is insecure? No. I didn't think so."

"Actually, when you act all jealous, you sound a bit insecure, like I'm going to leave you or something. Charlie is just a friend, all right?"

"I know that you think of him as a friend, but he wants you."

"Draco, shut up," Harry sighed, rubbing his face. "He doesn't want me. Now, I'm going to eat. Are you coming or not?" Harry turned and began walking down the hallway, hearing grudging footsteps carrying their silent owner.

***

After breakfast, Harry excused himself from his friends' company, saying he needed to do something in his room. Ron, Hermione, and Draco informed him to meet them in his private drawing room on the fourth floor. After separating ways at Draco's room, Harry went to his own room and locked the door behind him. He quickly located the letter from Dudley and threw himself in one of his plush armchairs. It was time for his daily torture session.

_Harry,_

Hello. I can guess what has probably happened if you are reading this letter right now. I don't mean to sound all melodramatic or anything like that, but I think I'm probably dead since you're reading this. Whatever you do, don't show either one of my parents this letter. I don't want the real reason for my death to come out to them, all right, Harry? I should probably start from the beginning. At the beginning of the summer holiday this year, or last, whatever year it is now to you, I went into London with a couple friends of mine from Smeltings, if you remember. That was the morning that I almost tripped you down the stairs, but when I came home I wouldn't talk to you at all. I don't know if you remember that or not. But I do.

Harry, in fact, did remember that day. It had only been about a week into the summer holiday when Harry had woken up and started downstairs to make breakfast. Dudley had stuck out his leg and nearly killed Harry by sending him down the stairs. It was good luck that Harry's seeker skills had jumped into action and he had been able to grab the railing before falling far. Dudley had indeed gone to London that day and when he had come home, he had been incredibly silent, brooding even. Dudley had seemed a bit jumpy around Harry and had not come near or even spoken to Harry until the day Sirius had shown up at the Dursleys.

_ While I was in London, my friends and I were in a store, I don't remember which one, but it isn't really important. Well, I went one way by myself to look at some candy while the others went to look at the liquor, talking about how cool it would be to steal it and get drunk. While I was trying to decide what I wanted, somebody pulled me into a back room of the store. When he let me see him, I didn't know who he was, but I could tell that he was a wizard by his clothes._

I didn't find out who he was until your birthday, in fact. I'm sorry to tell you, but it was your godfather, Sirius Black. He started telling me that he knew who I was and that you are my cousin. He told me to become friends with you. He tried to bribe me at first, but I refused, because to be honest, I didn't like the thought of becoming friends with you. I told him to sod off, but then he started to threaten me and mum and dad. Sirius said that he would kill mum and dad if I didn't do it, or he'd make me do it by putting me under some curse. I don't remember what it was called, but I'm guessing it takes over your mind or something. I really didn't know what to do. I didn't know if I should believe him or not, but I figured since there are some major lunatics out here in the Muggle world, as you would say, that there must be some in your world as well. I agreed to become friends with you, though I didn't really see a point.

When Sirius showed up on your birthday, I was really surprised. I didn't think anything would have come of his threat, but there he was, in our house. I knew that I had to do something then and there to start becoming friends with you. So, I went into my room and found an extra Discman that I had never opened and one of the CD's that Piers had burnt for me on my birthday.

For what it's worth, I am sorry for not telling you about Sirius. I think that I could have saved you from what you seem to be going through this year. If you're wondering why I took an interest in magic, I only asked because I was curious as to who or what Sirius was working for. When he came to our house, he said something about serving his master, but I didn't know what he was talking about. Now, with one of your books, I found out about Voldemort and that you beat him when you were a baby. Let me tell you, that you must be bloody brilliant if you did that.

Again, for what it's worth, I did start to like you. I think we could have become really great friends if we had had the chance. Don't feel bad about what happened to me. As I write this, an owl from Sirius has come for me. He wants me to tell him anything new that you have told me. That was the purpose of me becoming friends with you, so that Voldemort and Sirius could know what is going on with you. I'm not going to tell him now though, because you've accidentally said the name of the person who is helping you in one of your letters. Draco Malfoy? I'm glad he's there. In fact, I wrote to him a couple weeks ago and I just got his reply yesterday. He seems a little bit, well... stuck on himself and spoilt, but look who's talking, you'd say, right? He's probably doing a good job of being your friend. Say hello to him for me.

If I die, it's not your fault. It's mine. I'm the one who is about to refuse to tell anymore to Sirius. I'm the one who is bringing my own death to me. Don't blame yourself, Harry. If there is one thing that I have learned about you since we have started speaking to each other, it's that you take things to be your fault. It's not. I've had quite a long time to come to terms with death. I've thought about it a lot in the past months, and I'm willing to risk it to keep you safe. After all, your parents died saving you, so you must be worth it, right? I'm sorry for the way I treated you when we were kids. Things should have been different.

Anyway, I have to write to Sirius now. I hope you have a good life, and I know you might not want to, but keep an eye on my mum, okay? I don't think she'll take my death very well. Take care, and I hope things work out between you and Draco. He told me things were rough with you two lately. Please work it out. I'd like to think of you as happy in the future.

Goodbye, Harry.

Dudley

PS: One more thing... I want you to smear that Voldemort character into the dirt where he belongs. I know you can do it.

Harry folded up the letter and hastily wiped away the silent tears running down his face. It angered him that he had been correct in his own assumptions. It had been a plan of Voldemort's that had made Dudley befriend him. The only thing that Harry could be thankful for was that Dudley had been doing it of his own accord after a while. Dudley had liked him. That one thought made the Gryffindor smile slightly. Harry knew that Dudley had told him not to feel guilty, but he could not help but feel just that. There had been too many people already who had sacrificed themselves for his sake. He did not know if he could take another person doing that.

Harry sighed tiredly and ran a hand through his hair. If only Dudley had told him that it was Sirius. Then maybe Harry never would have had to bow down in front of Voldemort. The thought still made him feel nauseated. Harry had tried to keep his anger at Sirius down the past couple days, but now a surge of anger spread through Harry's body like a wildfire, and he sprang from his chair and ran out of his room in the direction of Sirius' study where he was sure to be. His study was on the second floor on the other side of the manor so Harry was slightly winded by the time he burst through the large oak door. Across the room, Sirius jumped from his chair at his desk, as did the two people in front of his desk, Severus Snape and Charlie Weasley.

"Harry!" Sirius exclaimed, as Harry clutched the stitch in his side. "Are you all right? What happened?"

"Why didn't you tell me?" he breathed out as Sirius grabbed his shoulders.

"Tell you what?"

In answer to the question, Harry shoved the letter into Sirius' hands and sunk down into a chair to rest. It took a few minutes for Sirius to read, and when he was through, he looked at Harry apologetically. "I'm sorry. I thought you knew," he replied, handing the letter to an inquiring Snape.

"Knew that you were one of the people who killed my only cousin!?" Harry yelled out. "How could you?" he demanded.

"Now, Harry, I know you're upset, but think on this for a minute. Dudley didn't disappear until May. By then, everything was back to normal. Everything had been figured out and I was no longer under Imperius. I didn't have a part in his death."

"Well, why didn't you tell somebody that Dudley was in danger? It was the least you could have done! He'd still be alive!"

"I..." Sirius started but faltered, at a loss for words. Harry glared furiously and stood abruptly and ran out of the room. He had to stop when he got to the third floor as he was still winded from his first exertion. The Gryffindor fell to his knees, breathing deeply, trying to get his angry thoughts about Sirius out of his head. He knew that Sirius had been just as out of it after the whole ordeal was done as everybody else. Maybe even more so. The man had been facing a trial, after all. How was it his fault that he forgot? Anybody else could have. But then again... if only he had remembered, then Dudley would be safe on Privet Drive, and they could continue their friendship that had been developing.

Maybe Draco could have even become Dudley's friend. Harry smiled slightly at the thought of Draco ever becoming friends with Muggles. Of all the horrors, Harry thought, amused. Little stars started to dance before his eyes, swirling with black. The black-haired boy blinked owlishly as he started to feel dizzy. Soft footsteps approached from behind and he turned to look. He smiled a little when he saw that it was Sierra again.

"Hello. I didn't know you were here," he said quietly. The girl giggled and moved in front of him.

"I'm always here, silly. Are you feeling okay, Harry? You look dreadful! Should I go get somebody?"

"I am feeling a bit weak and dizzy."

"I'll go get Daddy. Stay here."

Harry nodded, feeling as though he could not go anywhere even if he had wanted to. Not a minute later, hurried footsteps pounded down the hall to where he was kneeling and he looked up.... and gasped. It could not be….

"Harry! Are you all right? Sierra said you were sick!"

"I'm feeling a bit nauseated. I'm a little upset with Sirius is all."

"Oh, is that all?" he grinned. "Well, I'm sure Sirius wouldn't mind if you pulled a small prank on him, Harry. After all, that's the way us pranksters are, right? Somebody pranks you, you prank them."

"But he didn't prank me," Harry protested as he was lifted into strong arms.

"Don't talk nonsense, Harry. That's all Sirius is known for."

Harry studied the man before him with blurry vision, more confused than he had ever been. Yet, he knew that it was not anything strange. He was just missing a bit of information. "You don't have to carry me to my room. I'm just a little dizzy."

"You're speaking nonsense again, Harry. What are fathers for anyway?"

"Well, I reckon to do things like this, but I don't remember ever having somebody to do this for me before."

"I'm feeling like I'm repeating myself, son. Nonsense, nonsense, nonsense. You've always had me here for you."

"But..." Harry stopped, and furrowed his brow in concentration. "I don't--"

"Don't strain yourself. You're weak right now and we're coming up on your room. I'll lay you in bed and you can rest for a couple hours. Maybe you'll feel better then."

"Okay," Harry replied slowly. Harry was carried into his room, laid gently onto his bed, and tucked in.

"Have a good rest, Harry."

"Mm OK. Thanks, Dad."

Harry rolled over and was asleep before James Potter closed the door behind himself. 

* * *

A/N: I want to thank all of my reviewers. I don't have the time to reply to all of them right now however, because my homophobic brother just came over. If he found out that I was writing slash... well, I don't want to think about that, so I won't. Chapter four should be up soon! Luckily, I added the teaser a couple days ago, so here you go!

_The Gryffindor walked to his bedroom door, but stopped as he set his hand on the knob. Coming to a quick decision, he turned around intent on going to see if Draco was in his room, but was stopped by a pair of stormy silver eyes. Harry gasped and stepped back in alarm. "Draco! I didn't hear you come up behind me."_

"What do you mean?"

The Slytherin's eyes flashed and before Harry could react, he was pinned against the wall, Draco's arm pressed tightly against his throat, blocking his air passage. He choked thinking that ironically, it would be his last breath, figuratively speaking and not so figuratively speaking. "You know what I bloody mean, _Potter_!" Draco spit out venomously. "I _saw_ you. (...) I heard_ you moaning for him."_

The parentheses represent a sentence taken out. I didn't want to give too much away. You'll find out what's going on in the next chapter!

Lindsay 


	4. The Shot

**A/N:** This must be a treat for those of you who did not know that I posted chapter three at the beginning of September. Two chapters in one go! ^.^ Well, anyway, thanks to those of you who reviewed chapter two, and to the people who found chapter three. I must also thank my wonderful beta, Padfoots_Bitch. This story would be shit without you! Oh, and I own nothing. It all belongs to Ms. Rowling.

**WARNINGS:** Angst galore. Oh, and my beta and I agree that this story contains much violence, consensual sex, non-consensual sex themes, and is slightly disturbing (at least ch. 8 is to me). So... if you do not want violence, some blood, sex, and other weird stuff, (oh and let's not forget the male/male relationship!) please don't read on. It only gets worse from here. It is rated R for a reason. Um... tis all for now.

* * *

**Remember You**

_Chapter Four_

~~~~~

A deep rumbling from the pit of his stomach is what woke Harry. His emerald eyes snapped open and he grabbed his stomach. "Oh," he moaned in despair. "I'm so hungry!"

  "Well, you've been out for a day! It's no wonder you're hungry," came a soft voice from the left of the Gryffindor. Said Gryffindor turned blurry eyes and saw two red heads sitting beside his bed. One of them handed him his glasses, so he put them on to see Ron and Charlie looking at him with nervousness and worry apparent. "What the bloody hell happened to you, Harry?" Ron exclaimed. "Why would you just pass out for a whole day?"

"I was... dizzy and then somebody... carried me in..." Harry furrowed his brow, trying desperately to remember who it was that had carried him to bed but recalled nothing. It was a blank memory, as if it had never happened. Maybe it had all been a dream. "Somebody carried me in and told to me rest."

"Who?" Charlie asked curiously.

"I don't remember. He was nice though and..." Harry trailed off as his bedroom door opened to let Hermione, Sirius, and Draco in.

  "You're finally up!" Sirius exclaimed happily. "What happened, Harry?" The green-eyed boy closed his eyes and shook his head a little. Charlie, seeing his distress informed the group of what Harry had just said, as Hermione and Draco came to his bedside.

  "Hey," Harry whispered to Draco. He wanted to take Draco's hand, but since Charlie did not know of their relationship, they had to settle for sitting close together. The Gryffindor chuckled inwardly as Draco got so close he was practically sitting on top of his boyfriend.

  "I don't know what the hell you think you're doing... just fainting like that, but I don't think you should be allowed to do that anymore," Draco said in all seriousness. Hermione tutted and batted the back of Draco's head.

"Would you stop about that? Harry can't help if he fainted. He obviously did for a reason, now didn't he?"

  "Pootter," Draco whined, rubbing the back of head. Harry noticed, with some disappointment, that his boyfriend's hair was back to normal. "This is why you can't do this to me anymore! I've been stuck with a whole lot of Gryffindors these past two days!"

"Malfoy... I'm a Gryffindor as well."

"Now, I know you are a Slytherin at heart. You began to tell me something last term about me having no idea about you being close to a Slytherin. I know there's something that you've wanted to tell me."

  "Shut up, Draco!" Harry glanced nervously between his two best friends. He had never divulged that information that he had almost been a Slytherin to them. To Draco's credit, everybody in the room was now at full attention, staring at him, waiting for him to elaborate.

"What's he blabbing about, Harry?" Ron asked, a little miffed that Harry had kept something from him.

  "Yes, what's this about Slytherins?" Sirius inquired.

"Good Lord. I wake up to the bloody Spanish Inquisition," Harry muttered.

"Come on, Harry," Draco goaded. "Do tell us."

  Harry made a disgruntled sound in the back of his throat, glaring heavily at his boyfriend. "_Fine!_ The Sorting Hat wanted to put me in Slytherin but I begged it not to, okay? I'm supposed to be in Slytherin! Is everybody happy now?"

"No!"

"Yes!" Both Ron and Draco exclaimed at the same time. "I knew I wasn't wrong about you, Harry!" Draco crowed happily. "That must be why I like you! You are a Slytherin!" Harry turned wide eyes toward Charlie for a moment to see which wayhow he had taken that statement. Apparently, Charlie had not caught on as to which way Draco meant that he liked Harry.

  "No, he's not!" Ron exclaimed hotly. "He's a Gryffindor! Harry, you've got to be kidding me! Why would the hat have wanted you in _Slytherin_? I mean, your parents were both in Gryffindor!"

  "Look, Ron, it isn't that big of a deal because, obviously, I'm not in Slytherin. It only wanted me there in the first place because Voldemort passed his powers to me when he tried to kill me the first time as a baby. Now if we're done here, I'd like to go get some food." That said, Harry threw back his covers and began to trek his way out of his room and to the kitchens, but Sirius held him back.

"You should just stay here for a bit longer today just in case you're not better. Poppy Pomfrey came over yesterday and didn't see anything wrong with you so we can't say if you're even better yet."

Harry jerked his arm out of the tight grip and glared. "Just because I've been out for one day, doesn't mean I'm not any less angry with you. You may have gotten the chance to get used to the idea of me knowing that you were the one who set Dudley up to be my friend, but I haven't! You should told somebody that he was in danger! But you didn't. Just... leave me be." He turned towards his friends. "Come with me," he ordered them sternly. Seeing that there was no room for argument, the two Gryffindors and one Slytherin hurried after Harry, Ron and Hermione sending apologetic looks towards Sirius. Draco merely shrugged and ran after Harry. The group of four hurried to the kitchens where the ten house elves immediately surrounded them, asking them how they could help. Harry requested what they had served earlier for breakfast and sat at a table. The other three followed and sat cautiously beside him, causing Harry to laugh in amusement.

"I don't know what you three are being so cautious about. It's not like I'm mad at you three."

"Well, Harry," Hermione ventured cautiously. "If Sirius hadn't had so much on his mind at the time, I'm sure he would have remembered Dudley. I don't think you should take your anger out on him."

"What would you know?" Harry snapped. "Have you ever lost a family member?"

  "Well... no, but--"

"But nothing! You don't know how it feels to live without a real family! You don't know what it feels like to have the only family you have left taken away from you just because somebody didn't remember!"

  "Harry, I think you're being a little unfair. I mean, for one, you weren't even that close to Dudley," Ron said just as cautiously as Hermione. "Just--"

Harry was now seething with anger. "Just because I wasn't as close to him as I am with you, Ron, doesn't mean I don't miss him any less. The Dursleys are my only living blood relatives if you haven't noticed. I have a right to be angry when one of them is viciously murdered! Look, this subject is closed. We're not talking about it anymore."

"Harry," Draco began.

  "I'm not speaking to you either!"

"But I didn't do--"

"I don't care. Just don't talk."

  Draco scowled and crossed his arms over his chest. Harry began to ignore all three of his friends and stared ahead broodingly. Before any of his thoughts became too involved, a movement on the other side of the room caught his eye and in the next moment, Sierra's head peeked around a corner and she giggled when she saw Harry. He smiled faintly back at her and stood up. "Where are you going, Harry?" Ron asked.

"I'll be back. Hold on." He hurried across the room and around the corner to where Sierra had just disappeared to. He found himself in a small hallway with a few torches lighting the way and he only needed to walk a few paces before Sierra jumped in front of him, making him jump back, startled.

"Why you little…," he growled out teasingly.

  She flung her arms around him in a tight hug and giggled some more. "Hello, Harry. Are you feeling better?"

"Yes, much better, thank you. What are you doing by yourself in the kitchens?" he inquired.

"Oh, I'm not alone, silly. Me and Austin are playing hide and seek. He's supposed to be finding me."

  Harry raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you a little old to be playing that?"

"Of course," she replied haughtily. "But we were bored and mummy told us of this game so we decided to give it a shot." Sierra pulled away from him and stared up at him with her large green eyes. "Are you angry with Sirius, Harry?"

"Yes, how did you know?"

"Because I heard you telling daddy before you passed out." Something clicked in Harry's head. So, it was his _father_ who had carried him to bed. _Now,_ it made sense. Harry smiled and began to pull the younger girl's hair into a ponytail.

  "You always know everything, don't you?"

  "Of course. I think you should apologise to Paddy for yelling at him. He never meant to hurt anybody. I should think that you know that, Harry."

"Gotcha!" a boy yelled out as he came from behind another corner and grabbed Sierra's sides and began tickling her. Sierra squealed in surprise and then laughter as she was tickled without mercy.

"Harry! Help me!" she squealed.

He smiled and stepped forward. "Now, now, Austin," he scolded playfully. "You have to play fair." Quick as lightning, he reached out and grabbed the young girl and brought her to him in a protective hold.

Austin stood to his full height, which was a few inches shorter than Harry, and mock glared. "Merlin, Harry, you're no fun." Austin's hazel eyes twinkled as he tucked his auburn hair behind his ears. He growled in frustration. "I'm beginning to think mum is right about me needing a haircut. I'm really getting sick of this mess."

"Oh, it's not so bad. But Sierra does want to cut her hair before going to Hogwarts this fall so maybe you both can get a haircut thenbefore we leave for school."

Austin got a devilish gleam in his eye as he looked down at Sierra. "That's right. I believe Harry... that we've got an ickle firstie on our hands. Whatever shall we do with her?"

Harry took a step back, studying the girl in mock contemplation. "Well, we could always do something about her now, or wait until we get to Hogwarts... get her into trouble and convince Filch that Dumbledore ruled that he is allowed to hang students by their ankles again."

  "No!" Sierra gasped. "Please don't, Harry! I always thought you were the nice one!"

  "Hey! I resent that!" Austin exclaimed.

  "Well, it is true, mate," Harry smiled. "I am the nicer one."

The auburn hair boy grinned and slapped Harry on the back. "If that's true, then you'll get me a spot on the Quidditch team this year, won't you?"

"We'll see. I think it is about time since you are a fifth year and all that. But... I don't know if I'm that nice," Harry grinned.

"I agree," Austin nodded, suddenly becoming serious. "You aren't that nice. You really should forgive Sirius. He didn't mean it and he really feels terrible."

"Okay! I know! I'll apologise for yelling at him. I already knew that it wasn't his fault, but still. It's hard."

"I know. But you have got a lot of people around that love you. You always have me and Sierra around... and _ahem_... Draco." Austin wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. Harry smacked him upside the head.

"Shut up. I know."

"Harry? Where did you go?" Draco yelled suddenly.

"Speaking of the devil," Sierra said. "You should go. I still want to play hide and seek."

Harry hesitated, wanting to play with them. He really did not want to go in there with his friends again. "I'll play with you two."

"No. You have to go apologise to people, including your friends because you yelled at them," Austin scolded.

"But..." Harry protested. Quite unexpectedly, Sierra began pinching him causing him to yelp and back away, the way he had come from. "Stop it, you little she-devil!" She continued to pinch so he turned around and ran with her hot on his tail. He ran back out into the kitchens laughing to see Draco staring at him incredulously from the table.

"What the bloody hell are you laughing about, Potter?"

Harry slowed down and frowned, looked behind him to notice that Sierra was no longer there, and then he turned back. "Why do you always have to call me Potter? I have a name."

"I know that, _Harry_. What were you laughing about?"

"Nothing. It was none of your business. Where'd Ron and Hermione go?"

"Hermione went to the loo and Ron had to go ask his brother something."

Harry approached Draco with a small smile. "So... we're alone?"

"For the time being," Draco replied cautiously. Harry smirked and straddled Draco's lap. The blond squeaked a little in surprise but then regained his composure after realising what he did. The Gryffindor could not help but smile and lean forward to place a small kiss on his boyfriend's lips.

"I'm sorry for yelling at you earlier, Draco," he whispered against his lips. "I shouldn't have taken my anger out on you."

"Damn straight." Harry kissed him again, slowly and gently, but he became more forceful after a few moments and thrust his tongue into Draco's mouth, kissing him brutally. When Draco whimpered, Harry took it as encouragement and began moving his hips into Draco's slowly but firmly. As Harry twined his fingers into Draco's silky hair, Draco's arms fell limp at his sides and he whimpered again. Draco began pulling his mouth from Harry's so he dropped his own mouth and began devouring the Slytherin's smooth neck. "Please," Draco whimpered.

"What?" Harry breathed.

"Please... please stop, Harry."

Harry blinked and he slowly moved his head up to face the boy underneath him. "Draco? Why do you always push me away? I thought at first that you just weren't ready for anything past kissing, but now we've been together for nearly a year, and you seem to be getting worse. What is it? Tell me. Why are you so scared of anything happening?"

  "I'm not scared!" Draco exclaimed defensively, beginning to sound like his normal self.

  "Draco, don't lie to me. There's something wrong."

"No, there isn't, Potter. Just leave it at that I'm not ready. Isn't that good enough for you?"

"No! I never would have believed you to be a coward when it comes to something as trivial as this!"

"Sex isn't trivial, Harry! You're a bloody Gryffindor! Aren't you supposed to understand and sympathise with people? I bloody love you, and I don't want our first time to be in a kitchen!"

Harry leaned back some more and raised an eyebrow. "I never took you to be a romantic, Draco."

  "I'm not!" he cried out, seeming to be horrified by the very idea. "I'm a Malfoy! I want a room that is more high class than a kitchen!"

  Harry nodded, not really believing Draco's reasoning. It still did not explain why he seemed to be scared. Harry clearly remembered the night that he and Draco had consumed too much alcohol and things had become quite heated. The blond had not seemed to be scared then... Of course, it could very well have been the alcohol's influence, but Harry had always thought that alcohol does impair judgement, but most people still know what they are doing when they are in the moment.

  Nevertheless, Harry relented and stood from his position, letting Draco stand. "I'm sorry then. But honestly, Draco... I'm seventeen years old, what do you expect from me? Sex is all I have on my mind... especially when you're around, and we just happen to be alone."

"Then I'll be sure that Granger and Weasley are with us at all times." Draco turned and began walking out of the kitchens, leaving a speechless Harry with a house elf tugging on his arm, declaring that his meal was ready. So, maybe Draco did have his insecurities about sex, Harry could handle that and maybe help him through it. But Merlin... did the boy have to bring about new insecurities for Harry? Did he really feel it necessary to make Harry believe that he was extremely unattractive? As Harry sat down to eat, these worries gnawed painfully at his mind. Was Draco just not interested anymore? Maybe he was thinking of breaking up with Harry. The Gryffindor's heart clenched painfully at the thought. He did not want to lose Draco. It would be more painful than anything. Draco had become a part of him.

Luckily, Ron chose that moment to come back in, smiling enthusiastically when he saw the food. "All right, the food is ready!" he exclaimed and sat down to devour whatever Harry did not eat. Between bites, Ron looked up at Harry and grinned. "How are you feeling, mate?"

Harry looked up at his best friend and grinned. "Great," he replied and he did not feel like he was lying. After all, how could one not feel great when a grinning Ron had a large piece of green food stuck in his teeth? Harry shook his head in silent laughter and took a bite from his food.

"What's so funny?" Ron inquired. "Do I have something in my teeth?" He smiled widely, giving Harry a perfect view of the food lodged between his teeth.

  "No, Ron," Harry laughed. "Nothing. You have nothing in your teeth." Ron grinned.

***

"_Bombs away!_"

Harry hacked and spluttered as Ron cannonballed himself, Hermione, and Draco. He was really beginning to regret showing him that move. Harry splashed Ron in the face as he came up for air, laughing wildly. "Ronald Weasley!" Hermione screamed, furiously wiping water from her eyes. "Would you stop that already? We get it; you can do a cannonball! We don't care!" Harry smiled as he swam to the wooden raft as Draco climbed on top. They were now swimming in the middle of the lake with a raft that was big enough to hold ten people; Sirius had put it together in a couple minutes with the use of magic a couple weeks ago. The four teenagers had made use of it nearly everyday for the past couple weeks, and it was now nearing the time to return to Hogwarts. In fact, Sirius, Remus, and Charlie planned to take the small group to Diagon Alley the next day, where they would meet up with Professor Snape and then shop for their school things.

  Snape had insisted upon meeting them there for more protection for Draco. Ron had groaned his protests immediately, and still was complaining a week after the arrangements had been made. A week earlier, everyone had received their Hogwarts letters; and with no surprises on Hermione's part, she was made Head Girl. The real big surprise of the day however, was for Draco. He had been made Head Boy, and though he tried to keep his happiness down, Harry could tell that the honour was just that, an honour, and Draco would not take his duties lightly.

Presently, as Harry climbed up onto the raft, he stared at his boyfriend with admiring eyes. He just could not get over how great and beautiful Draco was. The blond stood straight on the raft, looking down at Ron and Hermione bickering, with a slight smile on his face. His face was adorned with newly formed freckles that had sprouted in the extensive time they had spent in the sun, as well as a slight burn from the midday sun they were under. Harry chuckled softly. No matter how many times Draco burnt, he would just burn the next day all over again. It annoyed the Slytherin to no end how Harry and Hermione could tan so easily, but he was stuck with burning. But as Ron had pointed out, it was better than freckling so much that it looked like he had a constant tan. Draco had frowned and pointed out his new freckles, saying that he was well on his way.

Now, Harry laid a gentle hand on his boyfriend's elbow causing him to jump slightly. "You're starting to like them," Harry whispered happily.

  "What are you on about?"

  "Ron and Hermione. I saw you just now, smiling at them."

"Well, it's hard not to think their petty fights aren't amusing. It doesn't mean I'm beginning to like them," he drawled.

  "You'll never admit it, will you?" Harry sighed. "I wish you would."

  "There is nothing to admit, Potter," Draco said clearly irritated and dove gracefully into the water. Harry stared sadly at Draco's form swimming underwater, looking as though he was trying to get as far as possible from Harry. If one thing was for sure, Draco had kept to his promise of keeping Ron and Hermione around at all times. The two boys had not had one moment of alone time for the past three and a half weeks, or rather twenty-four days and five hours, and since Harry did not have a watch with him, he could not really be sure of the exact minutes and seconds since they had been alone. It frustrated, angered, and saddened Harry every time it was apparent just how far Draco would go to keep away. The blond had recently reverted back to calling him Potter every time the Slytherin referred to him. Out of everything Draco had been doing, this act hurt the most. In fact, Harry was now so unsure of himself, that he rarely even approached Draco anymore. He honestly did not know how he was supposed to talk to Draco when he was snarled at or ignored every time he did attempt a conversation.

Harry continued to watch as Draco emerged from the water behind Ron and he grabbed the red head's side, effectively startling him out of his mock fight with Hermione. The three started a large water fight as the lone boy on the raft watched on sadly. He felt his heart constricting painfully inside of his chest. Why would Draco not let Harry near him anymore? What had he done?

"Hey," a low voice whispered into his ear, making him jump back. Harry turned around and found Charlie hovering on a broom above him with a sexy grin planted on his face. "Why are you just watching them? Jump in and have some fun," he suggested.

Harry turned back to where Charlie gestured and watched his friends. "No. I think I'm done now," he replied, even as he shivered in the afternoon sun

  "Well, then it's a good thing I have a broom. I saw your towels on shore. I can give you a lift there and we'll grab yours and go back to the manor."

Harry was dubious. He had never flown tandem before and was not so sure if he wanted to start now, especially since he was now quite positive that Charlie fancied him a bit. His doubt must have shown on his face because Charlie placed a comforting hand on his shoulder and smiled. "No worries, Harry. I've flown tandem hundreds of times. It's nothing." Hesitantly, Harry nodded and Charlie lowered himself so that the younger Gryffindor could climb onto the back.

  "I'm going to yell to them that I'm going in first," Harry informed Charlie. Charlie nodded. "Hey guys!" Harry yelled and received no response. "Hey! I'm going in with Charlie!" The three continued having a fierce water fight, oblivious to Harry's words. He shrugged, slightly hurt that nobody even bothered to notice where he was, but climbed onto the broom and they were soon in the air. He noticed that the speed was not quite as fast with the extra weight, but he found that he did not mind clinging to Charlie. His presence was oddly soothing and warming to Harry's chilled body. He never glanced back so he never saw Draco climbing onto the raft, glaring after them.

When they got to shore, Harry jumped off and grabbed his towel, wrapping it firmly around his shoulders. Charlie suggested flying back, so, towel tied around him, Harry climbed back on and began the thrill of flight once more with the older man. When they walked into the manor's entrance hall, Charlie turned to Harry with a concerned expression. "Is there something bothering you, Harry? We could talk about it if you like. I haven't been around much in the past couple days to talk, so... we could go to our spot and do that now since your friends are otherwise occupied." Since Draco's purposeful estrangement to Harry, Charlie had become a confidant of sorts to Harry and the two found themselves becoming closer than ever they ever had been.

It had started the day after the kitchens incident, and Harry had gone to the library to do some homework. The library had two floors; the top one was merely a mezzanine loft, with only a small walkway around the walls. In the loft area, there were couches, chairs, tables, and a fireplace. Strangely enough, nobody ever went up there, so Harry found that it was a sort of refuge for himself. But on that particular day, Charlie had been looking for him, so Sirius had told him where he could usually find Harry. It was then that they began a private friendship that not even Ron knew about. They did not know why they kept their meetings secret, but they did. Harry found that he really enjoyed Charlie's company and looked forward to their next meetings. But since Charlie had been on Order business the past three days, they had not had the chance to talk. This was why Harry jumped at the chance now.

"Yeah, I'd like to talk. I just need to get dressed."

"Okay. I'll go wait in the library for you, then."

Harry nodded and ran up the three flights of stairs to his bedroom, quickly changed, hissed a few words to his snake, Kiana, explaining what he was doing, and then ran down to the second floor to where the library was. He could see a faint light on the second floor, indicating that Charlie had set a small fire in the fireplace. The second eldest Weasley was sitting comfortably on his usual couch and he smiled upon Harry's entrance. Taking them both by surprise, Harry flopped between Charlie and the arm of the couch and offered a cheeky grin. Charlie chuckled and discreetly moved closer with his arm on the back of the couch.

  "So," Harry began, "what was this business you were doing with the Order?"

  "You know I can't tell you that, Harry. Why don't _you_ tell me what's going on with you. You've been getting quieter and quieter every time I see you. What's going on?"

Harry sighed, unconsciously moving closer to the comfort that Charlie provided. As he started speaking, he never noticed Charlie's arm come to a rest around his shoulders. "Well... I don't know. I suppose it's Draco. There's something wrong with him, either that or he just doesn't like me anymore." Harry wanted to go into further detail how his boyfriend never let Harry near him with a three-foot stick, but Charlie still did not know about their relationship. "Ever since I woke up that one day, he started being really cold to me. He didn't want to be alone with me anymore, and he has started calling me Potter again. He can't speak civilly to anybody except for Ron, Hermione, Sirius, and Professor Snape. I don't get it. I mean, it used to be only Snape and me. But now I've been mysteriously excluded from his life."

  "It feels like last term, doesn't it, Harry?" Charlie asked smartly. "When everybody hated you?" Harry had confided in Charlie what it felt like to be suddenly and inexplicably ostracised from the group. He did not know why, but Charlie was the only one he had told.

  "Yes. Terribly like that. I hate it. I feel like everybody else is going to just start hating me again, any day now. I really really hate that feeling." Harry scooted further into Charlie's body and let his head rest on him and the older man pulled him to him in a firm hold.

"It's not happening again. I can assure you that much."

Harry turned his green eyes up and looked at his friend. "I just... I can't help but feel unwanted when he's around now. It hurts because now Ron and Hermione have become friends with him, or as close to friends as Ron could get to a Malfoy. Not that I'm angry with that, because I'm not. I'm incredibly happy that they've managed to push everything aside and become friends. It's great to see... But I just want to... I want..." No, he could not bring himself to say it. It was stupid; it was naive. He had to get over it.

  "You want to feel wanted," Charlie finished for him.

Harry's breath caught and he nodded numbly, still staring into Charlie's brown eyes. Charlie seemed to know him so well. "Yes," he whispered.

Charlie smiled. "You are, Harry." The red haired man brought his hand up and let it glide gently down Harry's face, letting it cup Harry's chin and bringing his head up. Charlie's eyes smiled as he leaned down and let their lips brush softly together. Harry let out a soft whimper as a shockwave of new emotions ran through him. He lifted his own hand to Charlie's neck and guided him down further to deepen the kiss. Harry sighed as he began to remember what it felt like to be truly wanted, to be lusted for, to be cared for... He now remembered everything that Draco had abandoned what seemed like so many months ago, but was really only a few weeks ago. It felt so good to have a warm body pressed into his, to be cradled and explored so thoroughly with a wet, smooth mouth and tongue. Charlie moved his expert mouth over Harry's cheeks, placing a trail of small, wet kisses along the way to Harry's earlobe, where he sucked and nibbled, gaining a moan from the younger Gryffindor. The red hair man licked down underneath Harry's jawbone and began to nip and suck gently on the sensitive skin, leaving a small love bite underneath his ear. Harry moaned with delight as his body began to react to Charlie's administrations. Charlie moved back towards Harry's mouth and covered the moan with his own mouth and kissed him passionately. As Harry wound his fingers through Charlie's short hair, pulling so hard that it was probably hurting, he could faintly feel Charlie's large hands moving down his side, heading for territory otherwise unexplored by anybody but Harry, himself. However, Harry did not note it, as he pulled his red haired companion closer to him into their passionate kiss. Charlie's hands continued south, and taking Harry by surprise, gently squeezed his growing erection through his trousers.

Harry yelped and pulled away, panting heavily from their fiery kiss. He looked down at his lap in shock where Charlie's hand was still doing wonderful things to him through his trousers. He looked up at the older Gryffindor to find that his brown eyes were glazed over with lust, and steadily moving in to take Harry in another kiss. But now only one thought was going through Harry's mind. _Those eyes aren't silver.... Oh. Merlin._

Quick as lightning, Harry jumped up from the couch and grabbed his hair, pulling at it painfully. "Oh. Oh, no. Oh, bloody bloody hell. I'm so stupid. I'm the stupidest damn fool in the whole of England. I'm so damn screwed. I'm such a bastard. I'm screwed. I... I... I...." Harry ended his rant with a cry of despair and pulled his hair harder.

"Harry!" Charlie exclaimed, as he stood up in alarm. "What's wrong? Why are you stupid? Why are you so screwed?" He tried to take the younger man by the shoulders but he was viciously shrugged off. "I can't say that I'm sorry for making that happen, Harry, but I am sorry if you weren't ready for something like that to happen with a another man."

Harry looked at Charlie with red-rimmed eyes, though he was not crying. He felt he just might if he could not keep himself under control. The tears of despair and guilt were pricking the corners of his eyes, threatening to take hold of his emotions and spill onto the floor. "Don't you get it, Charlie?" Harry asked desperately, taking his hands from his hair and flailing his arms about desperately. "I don't care that you're a guy! I'm gay! I don't care about that!" he exclaimed, still not quite ready to say why he felt like he was having an emotional breakdown.

"Then what's going on?"

Again, Harry pulled at his hair, giving himself an itchy nose. He wiggled it and his glasses fell a little down the bridge of his nose. "Draco's my boyfriend!" he cried out. "Oh, God! I can't believe I let myself kiss you. I'm sorry for leading you on. It wasn't my intention. I'm sorry. I'm such a bastard. I led you on and now I cheated on Draco!"

  Charlie's face went white and he sat on the couch with a thump. "Draco is your boyfriend? Why didn't you say something?"

"It's a secret. It's not that we don't trust you; it's just better if there aren't that many people who know. For one, I'm not ready to tell the whole world that I'm gay, and then this whole Voldemort thing. I don't want him to have another person to add onto his, 'Kill these people because Harry Potter loves them,' list. I can't have that happen!"

"You love him?"

Harry hesitated for a few moments and stared at the floor, his grip loosening as he thought of the blond. "Yes…. More than anything or anyone that I've ever loved before. I love him."

  Charlie sighed. "I'm so sorry, Harry. I shouldn't have taken advantage of your vulnerable situat--"

"Don't apologise. It's my fault just as much as it is yours, Charlie. I think that I'm the one who took advantage of you. You were willing to comfort me while I was- or rather am- vulnerable, and I took advantage of that. I shouldn't have when I knew that you fancied me."

  "You _knew_? Ron could tell that I did and passed the information along, didn't he?" Charlie sighed tiredly with a small smile.

"Erm - yes."

"Figures. I really am sorry though, Harry. I should have just let things be like I had planned to on your birthday. But then I was told to stay here and then it got difficult.... Look, we should probably part ways for a little while, let things cool down. If you tell Draco, or he finds out, I'll try to smooth things out for you. You're a good guy, Harry. You deserve to be happy."

"Thanks, Charlie. For what it's worth, I'm sorry as well..."

Charlie waved him off. "It's not a big deal. Go on and find your friends, huh? I have some business for the Order that I should start researching anyhow."

"Okay."

Harry turned slowly and walked back down the stairs and out of the library. He walked miserably through the cavernous hallways, feeling as though a large paperweight had fallen into his stomach and broke through, creating a giant hole of guilt and depression. Draco had to be told if they were to ever have a serious relationship... But then again, this bit of information could be the excuse for Draco to break up with him if that had been what he had been wanting the past weeks. Harry sighed, feeling his throat begin to close, his lip tremble and more tears prick the corners of his eyes. If that was what Draco had been wanting and it would make him happy to be apart from Harry, then why not give the blond the ammunition? Then all that would be left to do would be to pull the trigger. But what came after the shot? Would Harry live to tell what happened? Or would he feel so weak and drained that he would just stop living? In all truth, Harry knew he would not feel like living if Draco left him. Draco was his life. In the past weeks of the Slytherin's avoidance of Harry, the life had been slowly drained out of him. The break up would be his last breath. He smiled grimly as he ascended the last step to the third floor. Maybe being six feet under would not be so bad. Then he would not have to face the realities of life.

The Gryffindor walked to his bedroom door, but stopped as he set his hand on the knob. Coming to a quick decision, he turned around, intent on going to see if Draco was in his room, but was stopped by a pair of stormy silver eyes. Harry gasped and stepped back in alarm. "Draco! I didn't hear you come up behind me."

Draco did not say anything but tilted his head and studied Harry's neck for a few moments before meeting Harry's confused gaze. "It wouldn't be the first time today, Potter," he finally replied steadily, coldly even.

"What do you mean?"

The Slytherin's eyes flashed and before Harry could react, he was pinned against the wall, Draco's arm pressed tightly against his throat, blocking his air passage. He choked thinking that ironically, it would be his last breath, figuratively speaking and not- so- figuratively speaking. "You know what I bloody mean, _Potter_!" Draco spit out furiously. "I _saw_ you," he continued in a low voice tinged with venom. "I saw that fucking weasel giving that hickey that you have on your neck. I _heard_ you moaning for him."

Harry tried to say something, but it came out as a strangled gurgle. Draco pressed harder into his neck and Harry knew that his face was purple. He was struggling for his breath so badly that he did not notice that he was being pulled off of the ground by Draco's anger at him. Draco continued speaking even as Harry began clawing desperately at his neck, trying to take away the arm that blocked his precious air. "You bastard," Draco said, his voice still low. "You stupid son of a bitch. Do I mean nothing? Have I been some sort of sick game to you?" The silver eyes lost some of their anger and a great sadness swelled up in them and Draco let Harry drop to the ground. Harry took in great gulps of air as his head began to pound unmercifully. He hoped that Draco would stay so that he could catch his breath and speak. To Harry's great relief, Draco's bare feet stayed planted firmly in front of him. The owner of said feet did not bend down to help, but at least he was staying.

Harry reached out a shaky hand to grab the wall and made a slow progress in standing. Draco looked on with unshed tears in his bloodshot eyes. When the Gryffindor finally got to his feet, he looked desperately into the silver eyes before him, pleading with his own green ones to listen. "Draco," he whispered hoarsely. He clutched his throat and swallowed. "Draco, I'm... there's nothing that I can say to make it better. But I'm sorry! I didn't mean for it to happen. It was the first and last time and I'll do anything, Draco... anything to make it up to you. I've just been so confused when it comes to you lately. You've been pushing me away like I mean nothing... I can't take it anymore. I need to know what's wrong with you." Tears began falling from his eyes, but he did not bother to wipe them away. "Oh God... I lo--"

"Don't," Draco whispered. "Don't say it. I don't want to hear it, Potter." The low tone made Harry wince in anticipation of what was to come. "You betrayed me in the worst way possible. I don't think I can _ever_ forgive you of that."

"I don't expect you to! But please, give me--"

"Fuck you. If you want an easy fuck, then go back to Weasel because you most certainly aren't getting near me ever again with a ten-foot broomstick. Got that? I don't want _anything_ to do with you ever again. That means, no parchment, no classroom, no Black Manor, no secret meetings, no Weasley, no Granger... nothing." He stabbed his finger into Harry's chest and pushed him into the wall again. Harry was afraid for a moment that he was going to be denied air again, but thankfully, Draco only kept his finger sticking painfully into his sternum. "Got it, Potter?" The silver eyes glistened with emotion and Draco blinked, as if willing the emotion to go away. "You mean _nothing_ to me. Don't ever talk to me again." With a final glare, Draco walked to his room and slammed the door shut. In that moment, with that final slam, the bullet was shot. It hit Harry with the exactness that he had feared. It pierced his heart and he gasped for breath. He grabbed frantically at his throat, trying to breathe air. Why did it still feel like Draco was holding his arm over his throat? Why could he not breathe? Tears silently streamed down his ashen face. Right outside Draco's bedroom door is where Harry died. He fell to the ground, eyes blank to the world. His soul was gone with Draco. He did not know how to live anymore.

This was where Severus Snape found him twenty minutes later. The potions master bent and checked the young boy's pulse and breathed a sigh of relief when he found a steady beat. Standing, he knocked on his godson's door and waited a few moments for it to open. When a distressed Draco answered, he did not look surprised to see his ex-boyfriend on the floor. He merely beckoned his godfather into his room. Snape raised an eyebrow and stepped over his least favourite student. "Ready to go back to Hogwarts, Draco?"

"As ready as I'll ever be." Draco stared down at Harry's prone figure and Snape levitated Draco's trunk.

  "He will be fine, Draco," Snape said carelessly as he stepped over the Gryffindor. "He has just fainted. I will have to inform Black before we depart. Damn boy. I was rather hoping I would not have to confront Black before I left. Potters are always ruining everything..." Snape continued to mutter to himself as he walked his godson's trunk down the hallway. Draco, however, continued to stare down at Harry.

"You're wrong, Severus," he whispered to himself. "He didn't just faint... he died when I died today. Goodbye Harry." With these last words, Draco, too stepped over Harry and followed in the footsteps of his godfather. 

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**A/N:** Is that enough angst for you? Tee hee. Well... now that I have Harry/Charlie out of my system, we can all move on. Or can we? ^.^ Well, I have found an artist, but am looking for another. She draws anime/manga, so if anybody who draws anything other than that, and is interested, please email me at mione2003@hotmail.com Or just come to my LiveJournal and comment on one of my entries. The link is in bio page here. If you email me, please specify in the title that you are interested in doing artwork for RY. Thanks! Okay... teaser! 

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Harry furrowed his brow. Leave who to what? Snape left the infirmary and somebody cleared their throat beside him. The Gryffindor jumped and looked over to see Draco sitting beside him. The Slytherin smirked. "Don't look so surprised, Potter."

"Why not? You don't speak to me anymore."

"True. But if you remember, I'm the one who caught you from falling on your fat face. Besides, after Granger and Weasley said that you were probably dreaming of Voldemort, I was curious, so I stayed to talk when you woke. So, here I am." Draco gestured grandly with his arms, smirking. Normally Harry would think his smirk was sexy, but now it was unbelievably irritating.

"Oh.... What makes you think I'll tell you?"

"Because you can't resist me," he stated simply as he leaned back in his chair.

"Keep dreaming, Malfoy."

"Oh, I do dream. But I dream of much better things than of you fancying me. I dream of cute little bunny rabbits, flowers, sunny days, and snogging red-haired men named Charlie Weasley."

Harry swallowed thickly and looked in his lap. "I said I was sorry," he whispered.

"What are you talking about, Potter?" Draco asked innocently. "I really do dream of that. It's always been something I've fancied doing... I've always wanted to snog Charlie Weasley in the middle of a field full of flowers and cute bunny rabbits on a nice sunny day. Or maybe just a library would do." Draco shrugged.

Harry nodded his head dumbly. "Well... maybe your dream will come true some day." He grabbed one of the vials on the bedside table and downed it in one drink.

"Yeah, why wouldn't it, right?" Draco continued. "I hear he likes libraries." Harry clenched the glass vial tightly.


	5. Return to Hogwarts

**A/N:** This isn't mine. It belongs to more creative people than me. The plot, however, is mine, so back off. ^.^ Er – I'm sorry if this chapter is a bit boring. I think it's one of those filler chapters. Or maybe not. *shrugs* I'm sorry for the wait in-between chapters, but they can't really be helped at the moment. I've run into a few large snags that could not really be avoided, and because of those snags, I now have to have chapters 6 and 8 re-beta'd, plus re-write chapters 10-12. I'm not a happy camper, especially since this story _would_ be finished if it wasn't for my disk eating itself. Oh, you can expect 22 chapters out of this story.

On another note, special thanks to my beta, Padfoots_Bitch, who is incredibly patient. I simply adore her for putting up with me. Also, thank you to all the reviewers, who have stuck with this fic, and have given me such kind words. Obligatory teaser at the end of the chapter.

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**Remember You**

_Chapter Five_

~~~~~

As the Gryffindor trio awaited their return to Hogwarts, Harry steadily became more introverted. He knew that he worried his friends, Sirius, and Remus, but he did not care. The only time that he came out of his room was to go to Diagon Alley. Even then, he was not with anybody, at least not in mind. Emerald eyes would glaze over in thought or memory, or even in a search for a head of blond hair. His searching was for naught, and Harry had a strong suspicion that Draco had talked Snape into going into London the day after Harry, himself did just to avoid confrontation. Harry did not blame Draco. Confrontation was just the thing that he was avoiding as well. On the second day after Draco's unexpected departure, Harry had decided to come down to breakfast. He quickly learned that it was a mistake.

  "Harry," Sirius inquired softly. "I've been meaning to ask you... where did you get those bruises on your neck from? Is it why you fainted again? If that keeps happening, I'll have to bring you to a Healer to see if there is a problem."

"And that hickey!" Ron put in. Hermione elbowed him and he fell silent. Both Harry and Charlie shifted in their chairs.

"Look, there have been reasons why I've fainted. It's usually been I've been stressed, physically exerted, or both at the same time. I don't want to talk about the bruises. It's nothing to worry about."

"Harry..." Remus said sternly.

Harry sighed, raked a hand through his hair and stared at his plate. "Fine. Draco and I got into a fight, okay? He just pushed me into the wall and held his arm over my throat."

"What?" Sirius asked, his voice a deathly quiet.

"Stop, Sirius," Harry admonished tiredly. "He had every right to strangle me. And I'm not saying that because I'm a victim and trying to defend him. I really deserved it."

"Is that why he left, Harry?" Hermione asked quietly. "What happened?"

"Nothing," he mumbled in return. "We... we just... we broke up, all right? We're not together anymore." A collective gasp went up around the table.

"But the hickey!" Ron exclaimed again. "It wasn't there when we were swimming but when I saw you after you woke again, it was there."

"_Not_ that it's any of your business," Harry snapped. "Draco and I had a sort of a uh... break-up snog? He gave me the damn hickey!" Ron looked dubious, whether the fact that it was from Draco or about the break-up snog, Harry was uncertain. Suddenly, Ron's eyes lit up and he turned to Charlie with a glare that could have melted ice. Charlie actually sunk down into his chair.

"I see how it is," Ron said tightly, looking back at Harry. "I wish you would have listened to me on your birthday about what we talked about. I said you'd only get hurt... and now look at you. This is the most you've spoken since Malfoy left."

"Shut up, Ron," Harry spat out and stormed from the room.

That had been two days ago, and he still had not spoken to anybody. Solitary confinement seemed a better option than speaking about why Draco had strangled him. It was now the morning of September first and Harry's group had just run through the barrier, one by one. Harry was trailing behind Ron, Hermione, Sirius, and Remus. To his benefit, they did not try to persuade him to speak with them. They already knew that he would not speak, so it was not worth trying. The trio put their trunks on the train as usual, and Hermione claimed that she had a couple things she needed to do as Head Girl, so she bid farewell to Remus, and hurried off on her own. Ron said goodbye to Remus as well, and grinned cheekily at Sirius.

  "Thanks for letting us stay, Professor Black."

Sirius grinned. "It was my pleasure, Mr. Weasley. Now, mind that you behave yourself on the train. I won't hesitate in giving you a detention when you get to Hogwarts tonight if I hear of any misbehaviour."

  Ron opened his mouth to speak, but he looked unsure if as to whether or not Sirius was actually joking or not. Sirius laughed. "I'm joking, Ron. Make as much mischief as you like. Leave it to McGonagall to punish you for that!"

"Well, if a professor tells me to, why not?" Ron said to Harry in an obvious attempt to make light conversation. Harry smiled half-heartedly but it was enough to lift Ron's spirits. "I'll go get us a compartment, Harry."

"Okay." Harry watched his friend disappear onto the train and very reluctantly turned around to face his godfather and Remus. Sirius moved forward slowly and placed a firm but gentle hand on his godson's shoulder.

  "Harry..." he hesitated.

"You can speak," Harry smiled. "I'm not going to break."

Sirius seemed very relieved to see Harry smiling and actually speaking again. He let out a breath and squeezed Harry's shoulder. "I know you're going through a rough time, Harry, but don't shut us out. We want to help you through it, and talk to you. Don't take us for granted now that you have us on your side again."

  Harry widened his eyes a little in horror. It was true. He was shutting out his friends and family. How could he have done that when they were all he wished for the previous school year? "I never meant to, Sirius. I just don't want to talk about what happened."

  "We're not going to make you, Harry. We just want to talk to you like we normally do and if by some chance, you ever do want to speak about it, then by all means…" Harry nodded his head, hesitated, but embraced Sirius in a tight hug.

"I like knowing I have somebody to talk to," Harry mumbled into Sirius' shoulder. When he pulled away, something in the train window caught his eye. It was a flash of silver-blond hair. Harry did a double take, but it was already gone. The Gryffindor shook himself. It could not be. Draco was already at Hogwarts.

  "I'll be at Hogwarts tonight. My office is always open to you and I'll show you where my chambers are in case you might like to come there sometime. In fact, I have an extra room. I'll fix it up for you in case you want your own room sometime."

  Harry smiled his first true smile since the day he kissed Charlie. "Thanks," he replied, truly meaning it. It was true that Harry could easily go to the classroom that he and Draco had shared before, but he was not so sure he wanted to do that now. Even if the classroom had been an option, Sirius's offer was nice enough to make him smile. "I'll keep that in mind." Harry then turned to Remus and smiled again. "When will I see you again, Remus?"

"Oh, I'm not sure. I might be up there soon to discuss business with Dumbledore or to see Sirius. I'll make sure to come see you if I do."

"Okay, that sounds great!" Harry gave him a quick hug as well, and then turned back to Sirius. "Have you heard anything on Hedwig?" Harry tried to keep the strain from his voice, but he was having a hard time. Hedwig had been his first present from his first friend in the wizarding world... Actually, Hagrid had been his first friend _ever_. Just the thought that Harry had failed Hagrid by not taking better care of Hedwig was a terrible thought. The Gryffindor hated the thought that Hedwig might be dead. It just added to the ache of losing Draco.

Sirius shook his head sadly. "We haven't found her yet. Don't lose hope yet, though, Harry. She could come back at any time."

Harry nodded his head slowly and sighed. "Okay. I'll see you later, Sirius."

"Remember what I said, Harry," Sirius replied.

The young Gryffindor waved to both men and hurried onto the train in search of Ron. He wandered down the hallway, giving out his hellos to people he knew and he briefly wondered where Sierra and Austin were. Due to Harry's confinement the past couple days, he had not seen much of them.

As he passed a compartment, Hermione's voice drifted out. Intent on giving her a fright, he quietly pushed the door open and looked inside. He stopped himself from moving in all the way, however, when he saw who was with Hermione. Harry furrowed his brow. Blaise Zabini was sitting on a seat by himself, leaning forward so that his elbows were resting on his knees. Harry followed Zabini's gaze and saw Draco Malfoy, looking completely miserable. His hair and clothes were as immaculate as ever. If anybody would see him from afar, they would think that he was the same arrogant Malfoy that he always was. But as close as Harry was, he could see the dark circles under his eyes, no doubt from lack of sleep... Then there was the solitary tear running down his cheek as he looked into his lap, refusing to meet Hermione's eyes.

Harry let out an agonised breath, knowing that he had caused Draco Malfoy to cry. It was something that he had always thought the Slytherin to be above... or something. Maybe Malfoys just were not supposed to cry. Then again, how could somebody go through life without crying? It was a human instinct to cry when all the heart-felt emotions filled up the body up, pushing the tears out, pushing the emotions out in gut-wrenching sobs. Zabini made a move as if to comfort Draco, but Draco glared at him, so he settled down into his previous position. Harry gritted his teeth at the look of concern on the boy's face.

"Oh Merlin, Draco," Hermione was saying. "I knew this was bothering you. So, don't you dare call me a Mudblood again because I know you've changed. No matter what you say, I can see that you've started to like Ron and me -"

  "Complete and utter bollocks," Draco muttered as he angrily wiped the tear away. "I was doing it for Potter.... He obviously didn't appreciate anything I did for him." Draco sniffed and began straightening his robes. "Anyway, I have only come on the train because of my Head Boy duties. Shouldn't we make rounds in the corridors?"

Hermione glanced at her watch. "We'll do it when we're done here. It won't take that long since we do it in shifts. Now...what were you talking about, Draco? I mean, why don't you think Harry appreciated anything?" Harry held his breath, willing Draco not to tell her. He wanted to be the one to do it.

Draco looked at her shrewdly through glossy, silver eyes. "You mean he hasn't told you why we broke up?"

"No," Hermione answered softly as she looked away from Draco's and Zabini's gaze. "I probably shouldn't even be telling you this because Harry will probably be furious if he finds out I have said anything about it, so don't say anything, please."

"Okay," Draco nodded. "Blaise won't say anything either. Go on."

"Well... he's been acting strangely ever since you left. The only thing he told us was that you strangled him and that he deserved it. He only told us _that_ much because Sirius asked him about the bruises and then we all pushed him into speaking about it."

Draco winced. "I gave him bruises?"

"Yes. They were awful looking, but they're fading now. Anyway, that was two days ago, and that was the last time he spoke. He basically shut himself in his room and would not come out except for when we went to Diagon Alley. And Ron said that he saw him flying at about three this morning. I don't know if he's getting any sleep."

Draco's face twisted into a nasty smile. "Good," he said heatedly. "He deserves it. Let him torture himself."

"What did he do, Draco?" Hermione asked desperately.

  Harry chose that moment to close the door and continue on his way. It was five compartments from Hermione and Draco that he found Ron alone in a compartment, yelling at Pigwidgeon to calm down. Ron grinned sheepishly and finally pulled out one of his school robes and threw it over the cage. "Bloody bird," he muttered as he sat down. Harry smiled slightly and rummaged in his bag and found a Muggle book that he had found in Sirius's library. There was actually a whole section of Muggle books because, apparently, Sirius's grandmother had enjoyed reading Muggle literature. Over the past couple days, Harry had immersed himself in the The Chronicles of Narnia and found them to be quite good. He was currently on the second one, The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe. Harry noticed Ron studying the book dubiously as Harry took a seat by the window. Deciding that no time was better than the present, Harry forced a grin and held the book up.

"It's a Muggle book that I found in the library at home." Harry paused for a moment, relishing in that fact that he could say that simple word and mean it. _Home._ Ron seemed to get it and smiled. "Anyway, it's pretty good. There are seven books to this series. I already finished the first one yesterday."

Ron frowned. "So... you're going to spend the train ride _reading_?"

Harry laughed, glanced out the window and then down to the book. But then his gaze slowly drifted back out to the platform. The late students were being rushed onto the train by their parents and the hustle and bustle was slowly filtering to a calmed state. But what Harry was looking at, was Sirius and Remus. Sirius was looking at the opposite end of the train, perhaps looking for Harry, but Remus was studying Sirius. The look was unmistakable. Harry had seen Ron and Hermione look at each other that way when they thought nobody else was looking. Harry, himself had given Draco that look numerous times. Even Draco had been caught staring at Harry like that. It was a look of undisguised love. Remus reached out slowly and placed his hand on Sirius' elbow. The latter turned and met his friend's gaze. The darker man smiled and to Harry's great surprise, moved the arm that Remus was touching so that their hands brushed over each other.

Remus moved a step closer, letting their hands drop and whispered something so that Sirius would be the only recipient of his words. Sirius smiled again, even a bit shyly and nodded, his cheeks turning pink. Harry could not help the involuntary gasp that escaped him. Sirius was never shy. Sirius never blushed. The young Gryffindor watched as the older men's hands brushed discreetly over each other again, and Sirius gave a short reply.

  "What's up?" Ron asked curiously. Harry watched as his godfather and friend Disapparated before turning to Ron.

"Gasp of realisation," Harry muttered.

  "What?"

"Realisation."

  "About what?"

"Sirius and Remus."

Ron growled in frustration. "You might have to elaborate because I don't know what you're talking about."

  "On my birthday, Sirius said that he was in a new relationship that was quite fragile, so he didn't want to say who it was with. Well, I was just watching those two and Remus said something... and here's the weird thing... it made Sirius _blush_."

Ron raised his eyebrows. "Sirius blushes?"

"Apparently."

"I don't know why I find that so shocking, but he doesn't seem the type to be embarrassed easily."

  "Not to me either," Harry said. "I never knew that they fancied each other."

Ron seemed thoughtful on this for a few moments. While he was thinking, the train began moving slowly out of the station. "It might be more than that, Harry. Think about it. They've known each other since they were eleven years old. They might have realised that there was something more between them before Sirius was thrown into Azkaban. They might have had a relationship before all that mess. What if they loved each other? What if they love each other now?"

  "It's possible," Harry conceded. "Well, I'm happy for them if that is the case; and they're finally getting everything back together. Though, I wish Sirius would tell me for certain though."

"He will. Don't worry about it."

  Harry nodded and looked out the window, staring outside as the London background slowly turned into rolling hills and small houses dotting the landscape. Before long, he turned his attention away and began reading his book. Ron had lain down on his seat, and was now snoring softly. Harry was so deeply involved in the words, that he never heard the compartment door open, and he certainly did not notice anybody entering until a sneering voice broke through the peaceful silence.

"Hey, Granger! I found your sidekicks! You might want to come quick. Potter is trying to read a book. We don't want him stumbling over the words." Harry jumped slightly at hearing Draco's voice so suddenly, but kept his gaze on the now blurry words. He pretended to get done with a page and turned to the next. Ron had also jumped up from his sleeping position and was now glaring angrily at Draco.

  "Get out, Malfoy. Leave Harry alone."

"On the contrary, Weasel, I've been invited to stay by Granger. I'll stay as long as I like."

"I think Harry is capable of reading by himself. And I invited you to stay," Hermione said as she stepped up behind him, "if you promised to be nice."

  "I don't--"

"Make promises," Harry finished as he pretended to turn another page. Harry felt rather than saw Draco's sneer and Hermione's smile.

  "Harry!" she exclaimed. "If I had known all it would take to get you talking again was Draco acting like a prat, I would have got him near us a long time ago!"

  Harry sighed and closed the book. "Yes, thank you, Hermione, for bringing that to everybody's attention."

Hermione clapped her hand over her mouth. "It didn't take Malfoy to get him talking again, Hermione," Ron said. "He was talking about that book he has, and about Sirius and Remus." Hermione pushed Draco onto the seat next to Harry and she took the seat next to Ron. Both Harry and Draco stiffened and moved as far away from each other as possible.

"Really? What about Sirius and Remus?"

  "I think they're together," Harry replied, fanning out the pages of the book. "Remus made Sirius blush and they were looking at each other with _that_ look."

  "What look?" Ron asked.

Harry sighed. "You know. That look that you two are always looking at each other with. The look that I look at Dr... That you two look at each other with," he repeated. He blushed and looked out the window. "The look that says, 'I'm so goofily in love that I don't care what anybody thinks.' That look." Draco shifted uneasily. An awkward silence followed.

"Well, that's good for them," Hermione finally said brightly. "I never would have thought but they seem to make a good couple."

  "Yes," Harry agreed. "They do."

Ron soon fell asleep on Hermione as she read a book, Draco fell asleep against a wall, snoring even louder than Ron, and Harry watched him, an aching feeling filling his entire being. He wanted to say something to Draco when he woke up; and he thought about it the entire ride. He wanted to tell Draco how incredibly sorry he was, how much he loved him, how he would do anything to make it up to the Slytherin, _anything_. He especially wanted to tell Draco how he did not want them to be apart. When the train pulled into the Hogsmeade station, Harry hardly even noticed. Draco had curled into a ball beside him in his seat, and Harry was indulging himself by running his fingers through his silky hair. Only when Hermione and Ron got up and left without a word did he notice that they were at Hogwarts. Harry reluctantly took his fingers from Draco's hair, smoothed down what he had messed, and gently shook him awake. He stood as Draco stirred and opened bleary eyes and looked up at Harry. A faint smile quirked the corners of Draco's mouth, but it quickly turned into a frown. All words escaped the Gryffindor as he stared into the silver eyes. What had he planned on saying telling Draco again?

  "You snore," Harry said simply and left the compartment.

  Draco's indignant sound of disbelief followed him along with an angry yell. "I do _not_ snore, Potter!"

Harry smiled and stepped off the train, feeling ready for the new school year, and maybe for the long process of winning Draco back.

  ***

The jet of red light shot from the orb and hit Harry square in the chest. He smiled to himself, thankful that he remembered to lie on his bed this time. The force of the light pushed his body further into the mattress, and he lay still for a few moments after he heard the orb resealing itself. It was only the second day of lessons and he had already used the orb three times since his return to Hogwarts. On the first day back, Dumbledore had summoned Harry to his office to meet about the orb.

"Sit, Harry." Harry complied and folded his hands neatly in his lap. "Would you like a lemon drop?" Dumbledore asked, his eyes twinkling merrily.

"Erm - sure. Thank you."

  Dumbledore beamed. "Now why is it that everybody else always refuses?" The Headmaster asked his student as he handed over a lemon drop. Harry popped the sweet into his mouth and grinned slightly.

  "I don't know, sir. They don't know what they're missing."

"Indeed." The blue eyes twinkled even more. "Now, down to business, Harry. Have you watched the orb since your birthday?"

  "Yes, sir."

"I assume that you've been careful to mimic your first actions and have not spoken?"

"I have, sir."

"Good, good. I informed Madam Pomfrey of this red light that hit you. She, of course, wasn't too happy that she hadn't been told straight away, but as it seemed to do no harm to you, I didn't see a reason. Has it happened every time since?"

  "Yes. Have you figured out what it means?"

"Not yet. I don't know if I will. As I said before, there are no books on the orb. But I am trying to work it out for myself."

At that moment, a knock came at the door, and Dumbledore granted the person entrance. Much to Harry's chagrin, it was Madam Pomfrey. She tsked when she saw Harry and bustled over to him. "Ah, right on time, Poppy," Dumbledore greeted jovially. "Poppy will be doing a few tests on you to see if the orb has done anything to you internally. I really don't see a reason to worry."

"You never know with objects like... _those_, Headmaster," Pomfrey admonished. "I should have been informed straight away. You have not let it hit you again, have you, boy?"

"Erm - yes, I have."

"What do you feel like when it hits you?" she urged through pursed lips.

"I just feel really calm... sedated, I suppose you could say. There is really nothing wrong with it."

"You never know. You could be sick without feeling a thing wrong with you. I've seen it countless times when I could have done something from the start, but nobody ever thinks that _they_ can get sick." Madam Pomfrey, with silent thanks from Harry, continued to cast spells over him in silence. Dumbledore sat back in his chair with an amused look on his face. After nearly twenty minutes of tests on Harry's body, Madam Pomfrey looked up at Dumbledore with a huff. "I can't find anything wrong with him. I'm not as good with the Dark Arts testers, myself, but I'm good enough. There isn't a thing wrong with him."

"So, may I go back to the Gryffindor Common Room now, then?" Harry asked impatiently. He was getting really tired as he had been sitting on the train all day.

  "I would like a small word with you first, Harry, if you don't mind. Poppy, thank you for checking him over."

"My pleasure, Headmaster." She offered a small smile and hurried out of the office, closing the door behind her.

Dumbledore continued as soon as she left. "Now, Harry, I must stress the importance of keeping the orb safe."

"If I may, sir, why is that so important?"

"It is one of a kind, and in so being, very valuable. Besides, you want to keep that so you can watch your parents, now don't you?"

Harry smiled brightly. "Of course."

Dumbledore seemed to ponder Harry for a few moments, but then blinked and shook his head, as if coming to a decision. "All right, I think that covers everything. You may go return to your Common Room, if you like. Unless you have some more questions for me?"

"No, sir."

"Okay. If you ever need to speak with me about something, don't hesitate to approach me."

Harry smiled. "Thank you, Professor. I'll keep that in mind."

Harry was secretly relieved that he could continue to watch the gift. He was really starting to like the orb. Not just because he could he look, smell, and feel his parents, but also there was the red light. It seemed to calm his mind and body. Harry always felt as though he did not have to do any thinking for himself for a few minutes afterward. It was a light, carefree feeling and he often found himself wondering if that was what Muggle drugs made you people feel like.

Presently, the dark-haired boy lay on his bed, staring up at the scarlet hangings above him with a benign smile. With each use of the orb, the feeling lasted at least two minutes longer than the last, and it had yet to wear off. "Oi, Harry!" Ron's voice called up the stairs. "What the bloody hell are you doing? Get your arse down here! We're going to be late for dinner."

Harry, in his carefree state, smiled and stood from his bed, ready to go down. He felt that had he not just used the orb, he would have told Ron to sod off. But all seemed well now. "Coming!" he called placidly.

Hurrying down the stairs, Harry found Ron and Hermione waiting for him while they held hands. They both smiled brightly at their friend and turned to leave. "What were you doing, Harry?" Hermione inquired. "You sure look peaceful."

  "Nothing. I was just resting," he lied as he climbed out of the portrait hole, and began walking down the hall at a fast pace.

  "Are you having trouble sleeping at night?" she asked worriedly, puffing to keep up.

"No. I was just resting," he insisted.

"Harry!" called a woman's voice from inside a classroom. "Come here!"

  "Go on, you guys. I'll catch you up, all right?"

"What are you doing?" Ron asked confused.

"I'll be right there. I need to talk to somebody."

  "Okay," Hermione said slowly and then tugged on Ron's hand, willing him to come with her. "We'll see you at dinner then."

Harry nodded and hurried into a classroom on his right from where he had heard the woman's voice. The classroom was an abandoned room with desks stacked up along the walls and a teacher's desk near the front coated with a thick layer of dust. Large windows on the walls let streams of the setting sun in. Standing in front of one of the windows was a woman, her figure silhouetted against the light of the sun. The light shone through her auburn hair, however, and gave her an angelic appearance. Harry smiled and stepped towards her.

  "You wanted to speak with me?"

The woman turned but her face was still cast in darkness. "Yes, Harry. I just wanted to see how your first days of your seventh year were going?"

  "It's been all right so far.... I didn't know you were coming. Why are you here?"

"I came to speak with your godfather about something that has been bothering me lately. It's nothing for you to worry about, dear. And of course, I wanted to see you, Austin, and Sierra."

Harry grinned. "Sierra loves it in Gryffindor. I spoke to her last night in the common room and she was absolutely ecstatic."

  "I'm sure she is, Harry." She moved towards him and her face came into view. A beautiful smile adorned her mouth and her emerald eyes shone merrily at Harry. As she looked at the young Gryffindor, her face became more solemn and Harry knew what kind of conversation was coming. "How are you really doing, Harry? Have you tried speaking with Draco?"

"No, mum. I haven't. And I'm doing perfectly fine. I am capable of living without Draco. I did it for more than sixteen years. I'm sure I can do it for another sixteen."

  "But do you want to?"

"Not particularly, no."

"Then you can't just let him go, honey."

"There's not much I can do about it, Mother!" Harry exclaimed, starting to become angry. "I _cheated_ on him! I mean, would you forgive dad that easily if he was to cheat on you?" She was silent. "No? I didn't think so. You should know, that when you love somebody, you aren't allowed to break the trust you have by kissing somebody else... No matter how terrible the relationship is going. I made that mistake and now I'm paying for it."

"But he was pushing you away, Harry."

  "I know he has a reason for doing that. Otherwise he wouldn't have been crying on the train if he didn't have--" Harry winced as his scar began to burn. He shook it off after a few moments and stared defiantly at the woman before him. "I'm sorry for losing my temper with you, mum. But I've already said that I don't want to speak to anybody about Draco. It isn't anybody's business but his and mine. All right?"

"Yes. I respect that. But you can't blame me for worrying about you."

Harry smiled slightly and embraced her in a hug. "I know. I don't blame you. But if you don't mind, I'm just going to go to dinner now. Ron and Hermione are waiting for me, and knowing them, getting worried while they're at it."

The two pulled back and she smiled. "Say hello to them for me. And if you see Austin and Sierra, tell them to come find me here. Otherwise, I'll find them."

  "Okay." Harry kissed her on the cheek. "I'll see you later, mum. Tell dad I say hello."

"I'll do that, dear."

Harry smiled again and then left the room, leaving his mother to wait for Austin and Sierra. He hurried his footsteps to the Great Hall and when he got there, Ron waved him over to an empty seat across from him. Harry sat down gratefully and began piling his plate with food. With a mouthful of mashed potatoes, he looked up at his two friends across from him. "Oh, mum says hello to you two." He smiled and looked back to his plate, intent on eating it all in one bite, as was the habit of growing boys at the Gryffindor table. He never saw the look that passed between Ron and Hermione.

  When Harry finished off his plate, he turned his attention to his water goblet and began to drink deeply. As he was drinking, he was dimly aware of his scar beginning to burn again. He paid it no mind, but it began to burn more ferociously and without warning, erupted into so much pain that he dropped his water goblet, causing it to break his plate. Harry gasped loudly, his eyes screwed shut as he grasped his forehead.

  "Harry?" Ron and Hermione asked frantically. "Didn't you take your potions today?"

  The dark-haired boy did not answer however. The flickering light from the candles and the setting sun were beginning to assault his senses, and made his scar burn with even more ferocity. Besides, he did not want to admit, that no, he had not been taking his potions. Harry did not even want to think about what was in store for him, just because he had been irresponsible.

He stood shakily, looking towards the Head Table to see that Dumbledore, Sirius, and Snape were not present. He groaned loudly and walked just as shakily as he had stood to the doors. All that mattered was that he had to get somewhere that he felt safe - to Sirius' office, or Dumbledore's. Hell, even Snape's office would be preferable to the Great Hall; after all the time he had spent there the previous school year, it would offer some small comfort.

Another jolt of pain shot through his scar, impeding his progress to the doors and making his eyes water. He gasped in pain, willing the burning to stop, willing himself to stay on his feet. He took another step forward and saw through his blurry vision that Draco Malfoy was in the entrance hall, heading Harry's way. The sight of the blond sent a shockwave of comfort through the Gryffindor's body and he would have smiled had it not been for the pain.

"Draco!" he gasped out before he fell into a vision, and into the surprised Slytherin's arms.

_Harry was floating inches from the floor. He looked at his surroundings, finding that he was in the same room that he had come to Voldemort in the previous year. Voldemort was standing in front of his chair, one kneeling, faceless Death Eater before him. "What do you mean, you cannot find it?!"_

"My lord, I'm sorry. But it has just disappeared--"

  "I know that you imbecile! It disappeared months before I killed the Potters! Do not tell me things that I already know! I want to know where_ it is, and then I want it within my possession!"_

"My lord... we are doing the best we can to find it again, but we suspect that Dumbledore has it."

The Dark Lord moved his tall form towards the cowering Death Eater. "Tell me..." he whispered in a menacing tone. "How do you expect me to do anything_ useful without it?"_

  "I.... I do not know, my lord."

  "Which is precisely why you should search harder. Things like this just do not make themselves known to you. You have to dig deeper. And I suggest you do so quickly... or suffer the consequences."

  "I shall do my best to please you, my lord."

"See that you do better than that, Avery. Your best does not always please me. Crucio!"

"Wake up, Potter! Stop screaming!" said a harsh voice in Harry's ear. He flinched away from the voice as he opened his eyes. Standing over him was the intimidating figure of Severus Snape. The Potions Professor wore a very angry scowl. "Didn't I tell you to inform me when you ran out of your potions, Potter? Then we could avoid displays such as the one you put on for all the students this evening."

  "I didn't mean to forget... I just forgot."

"Obviously," Snape said scathingly. "I have prepared some more for you. Granger and Weasley are delivering them to your dorm as we speak. I left you a dose on your bedside table. Drink it up and then you may return to the Gryffindor Common room. Dumbledore wishes to speak with you in the morning about what you dreamed. He was called away on urgent Order business a few minutes ago, or else he would be talking to you, and not I. Do not let this happen again. I will leave you two to it then."

  Harry furrowed his brow. Leave who to what? Snape left the infirmary and somebody cleared their throat beside him. The Gryffindor jumped and looked over to see Draco sitting beside him. The Slytherin smirked. "Don't look so surprised, Potter."

"Why not? You don't speak to me anymore."

  "True. But if you remember, I'm the one who caught you from falling on your fat face. Besides, after Granger and Weasley said that you were probably dreaming of Voldemort, I was curious, so I stayed to talk when you woke. So, here I am." Draco gestured grandly with his arms, smirking. Normally Harry would think his smirk was sexy, but now it was unbelievably irritating.

  "Oh.... What makes you think I'll tell you?"

"Because you can't resist me," he stated simply as he leaned back in his chair.

"Keep dreaming, Malfoy."

"Oh, I do dream, but not of you fancying me. Yes, my dreams are much better than that. I dream of cute little bunny rabbits, flowers, sunny days, and snogging red-haired men named Charlie Weasley."

Harry swallowed thickly and looked in his lap. "I said I was sorry," he whispered.

"What are you talking about, Potter?" Draco asked innocently. "I really do dream of that. It's always been something I've fancied doing... I've always wanted to snog Charlie Weasley in the middle of a field full of flowers and cute bunny rabbits on a nice sunny day. Or maybe just a library would do." Draco shrugged.

  Harry nodded his head dumbly. "Well... maybe your dream will come true some day." He grabbed one of the vials on the bedside table and downed it in one drink.

"Yeah, why wouldn't it, right?" Draco continued. "I hear he likes libraries." Harry clenched the glass vial tightly.

  "Shut up."

"What? You asked me what I dreamed about."

  "No," Harry replied tightly. "I didn't. If you recall, you asked _me_ what I dreamed about."

"Oh, I suppose you're right, Potter. What _did_ you dream about? I bet it was Charlie Weasley as well, right?"

"No." Harry squeezed the vial even tighter, making it shatter in his hand. The glass punctured his hand and blood dripped onto his blanket and down his wrist, but he did not register the pain or the blood. He could hear blood pounding in his ears, and felt himself clenching his jaw. "I dream of punching your face in."

  "Now, now, no need to get violent. Besides, you've already injured me enough in the past year. Maybe you should just think of that time you knocked me off my broom, or that time you cut me so much you almost made me bleed to death. Shouldn't those memories satisfy your craving for violence? Merlin, Potter, and here I was thinking that I actually got you back from the Dark side. Perhaps it didn't work after all? Are you actually a Death Eater?"

"_Shut up!_" Harry yelled finally.

  "Malfoy!" Ron yelled as he burst into the infirmary. "Get away from him! He's already been through enough tonight without you aggravating him." Harry sighed with relief as Ron dragged Draco to his feet. With irritating calm, Draco plucked Ron's fingers from his robes and stepped away, wiping imaginary dust from his robes.

  "I'd rather that your filthy hands didn't touch me, Weasel." He smirked superiorly as Ron turned red, and approached Harry. He eyed Harry's bleeding hand critically. "You might want to have that checked out, Potter. We wouldn't want the Golden Boy to bleed to death, now would we?" Draco smirked again and leaned in close so that his lips were brushing Harry's ear. "By the way, say hello to your master when you see him again." Draco chuckled as he stood and walked out of the infirmary. Ron laid a comforting hand on Harry's trembling shoulder.

  "I'll go get Madam Pomfrey for your hand, mate. Just ignore Malfoy. He's just angry. Hopefully Charlie will talk him out of it."

  "Charlie?" Harry asked curiously.

  "Oh, didn't I tell you? He began writing to Malfoy after he left the Manor and he says that he at least received a reply a couple days ago. It only said to sod off, but he thinks it's a start. I'll be right back with the nurse."

  Harry stared disbelievingly after Ron's retreating form. Charlie was writing to Draco? What was he saying? Was he saying that it was all Harry's fault? Was he saying it was all Charlie's fault? Harry's heart skipped a beat with the next thought. Was he trying to convince Draco that Harry was not at any fault and that he deserved a second chance? As quickly as his excitement, came, it went. Of course Charlie would not go _that_ far. There had been two people in that library and Harry kissed back. He might not have initiated the kiss, or even really wanted it, but he was still partly to blame. The younger Gryffindor had kissed back and it did not matter that Harry was feeling unsure of himself with Draco. It did not matter that Harry needed to be comforted. All that mattered was that he did not stop it before it went too far. He had pulled Charlie down for more... Harry had moaned for it, he had desperately kissed the older man back... Harry cheated, broke Draco's trust and heart, and that was all that mattered. Charlie could now try to set things right, but it was really up to Draco to do the forgiving.

"Mr. Potter!" Madam Pomfrey exclaimed as she rushed into the infirmary. "What have you done to yourself now?"

  Harry looked to his bleeding hand, but said nothing. Ron waited a few moments to see if he would say something, but seeing that nothing was coming, he spoke for his friend. "It wasn't his fault, Madam. Draco Malfoy was here, making him mad."

  The nurse tsked, gently took Harry's injured hand, and began healing it. He would have preferred to think in peace but Ron came around his bedside and began speaking excitedly about Quidditch. "I spoke to McGonagall on my way back here from the Common Room, Harry," he gushed. "She said that we'd be holding try-outs for the new Chasers and for Seeker if you wanted somebody to train for next year. I think all of the seventh years should do that, don't you? I mean, just because we're leaving, doesn't mean that we shouldn't want Gryffindor to hold onto the tradition of winning."

  "Right. Did she say anything else?"

  "Yes, she said something about her discussing with Madam Hooch the need for a new captain." Ron grinned and elbowed Harry in the side, earning him a reproving glare from Madam Pomfrey. "It's only obvious that it's going to be you, Harry. You've been on the team since first year and you're by far the best player on the team. You completely deserve it."

"Well, thanks for the vote of confidence, but I don't think I want it."

  "What?" Ron exclaimed. "Are you mad? Of course you want the job! It's Quidditch captain, Harry! You have to take it!"

  "First of all, we don't even know if I'm going to be offered it yet. Second of all, I'm not good at the whole strategizing thing. You're a great chess player so that has to transfer over to Quidditch. Besides, you've been a Quidditch fan your entire life. I only just found out about it when you told me on the first train ride here. I think you should get it."

"All good points, but..."

"But nothing, Ron," Harry said firmly. "We both have our opinions on who should be Captain, so let's just leave it there, all right?"

"Fine. But if you turn it down next week, I will pummel you."

  Harry did something that was a rare sight... He grinned. Ron's entire face lit up with a grin even wider than Harry's. He clapped Harry on the shoulder and squeezed gently. Harry's grin became even wider. "I know, Ron," he finally said. "You'll _try_ to pummel me. But let's face it, I'm a whole lot stronger than you." Ron made an indignant sound in the back of his throat, but Harry was saved from his response when Madam Pomfrey told him that he was free to go. The dark-haired boy thanked her and jumped from the bed, quickly walking to the exit.

"I don't think you know what you're talking about, Harry!" Ron called as he tried to catch up. "Just ask Charlie! I can throw a pretty mean punch. After I figured out what happened between you and Malfoy, I cornered him and I really made him sorry for ever trying anything with you."

  Harry stopped and turned. Ron was just coming out of the infirmary and was closing the doors. "You did what?" Harry asked incredulously.

  "I just punched him a few times, but you should have seen the bruises!" Ron exclaimed triumphantly. "I hit him in the stomach and he actually fell to his knees with that one, and then he _begged_ me to stop! It was brilliant!"

"Ron," Harry admonished tiredly. "You didn't have to do that."

  "I wanted to, Harry, honestly. You're my best mate and I hate seeing you the way I've seen you the past couple weeks. It's been terrible. I admit that I don't like Malfoy much and probably never will, but if he makes you happy, then I'm happy."

  Harry smiled a little. "Thanks, Ron. But things are so complicated right now, I don't know if we'll ever get back together."

  "Aside from Charlie, what else is going on?"

"It's nothing," Harry waved him off and turned around to walk back to the Common Room, but Ron stopped him and spun him around.

"I know you don't want to talk about it, but I want to know. Please? What was going on?"

Harry sighed and raked a hand through his thick hair and walked towards the closest window so that he could look out it. "No!" Ron cried, looking to the left where two knights stood, guarding either side of the infirmary. "Don't go there! Come sit over on this other wall!" he exclaimed, gesturing to the wall opposite the window.

"Er - why? What's wrong with the window?"

"Er - I... well, that is to say that I, uh... don't like looking outside when it's dark. The stars are in the sky and they look all... menacing." Ron looked unsure of this for a moment, but then he nodded his head firmly. "Yeah. They look menacing."

"_Menacing_?" Harry shook his head. "Ron, I sometimes wonder if you should be in St. Mungo's instead of in school." He heard a snicker from the knights and he jerked his head to the side, looking for the source, but Ron violently pulled on his arm, nearly sending him into the opposite wall. "What are you doing?" Harry exclaimed angrily.

  "I'm sorry. It makes me feel better to stand further away from windows because of the stars. The further away they are the better."

"Ron... Never mind. I'll let you stay in your own world."

"Good, I like it here. Anyway, you were going to say what was going on with you?"

  "Fine," Harry sighed, leaning his back on the wall. "Everything was fine on my birthday, and even a week after that everything was fine. But then that day when we were in the kitchens, Draco and I were alone. I... well, certain things happened that I'd rather not share with you because I'd rather not be spewed on right now--"

  "Too much information," Ron choked out.

"Shut up," Harry laughed. "Nothing big happened, and I don't want to say too much because otherwise I'd be betraying Draco's trust even more, but he got freaked out. I think I know the cause of it, but I don't know why he should be scared. When he left, he said that he'd make sure that you and Hermione were around us all the time. After that..." Harry drew a shaky breath, willing himself not to show weakness in front of Ron. "He just started being really cold towards to me. You probably noticed that he started calling me Potter again. He never spoke to me and when he did, he reverted back to how he used to be... you know, before sixth year. Well, even during sixth year, he was like that but it wasn't as bad. I don't know what I did. Maybe it was his intention."

"What was his intention?"

  "Pushing me away. Maybe he wanted to break up with me, or something. It would make sense with everything that he did."

  "Somehow, I doubt that."

  "How would you know?" Harry asked, letting it come out with more acid that he intended.

"I..." Ron faltered. "Well, I did see you two together sometimes when I wasn't being careful about where I was looking. I saw how he was with you and I don't think he would push you away so suddenly like that."

  They fell into silence for a few moments, the only sound surrounding them was a quiet fluttering sound. "Do you hear that?" Harry asked.

"Um... no?"

"Yeah, you do. You're such a bad liar."

  "Okay, I do hear it, but it doesn't mean I know what it is."

  "I didn't say you did know."

  "Oh."

  They fell into silence again, both listening to the soft fluttering noise. Harry peered down the hallway. It was getting hard to see since only the torches beside them were lit, so he had to strain to see the into the darkened surroundings. Harry looked to the knights that stood on either side of the infirmary and then to the end of the hall where a statue stood at the top of the stairs. Suddenly, the light reflected off a shiny surface, catching Harry's attention. It was a small silver object, flying in mid-air with glowing green eyes. Harry stepped towards Ron a little, unsure of what it was. He blinked a few times as the object flew closer and then broke out into a smile. "It's Wally!" he exclaimed.

"Who?" Ron asked confused.

  "Wally! The dragon I bought for Draco last Christmas. I wonder what it's doing up here? Draco loves that thing."

  Harry watched with a broad smile as the little dragon flew up to him and perched on his outstretched arm. Wally coughed, sending a small jet of fire and then looked at Harry imperiously. "You've been spending a lot of time with Draco, haven't you?" Harry laughed. The dragon did not make another move for a few moments but then, quite suddenly, started flapping his wings furiously without actually taking off into the air. "Whoa! What's wrong with you?"

As soon as Harry spoke, a piece of parchment appeared above the wings, and Wally stopped flapping them. "Neat trick, that," Ron said impressed.

  "I didn't know you could train them," Harry replied awed as he took the parchment. Wally took off again and curiously enough, flew behind one of the knights by the infirmary. Unrolling the parchment, Harry read.

_Potter,_

McGonagall asked me to request your presence in her office tomorrow after lunch. After that, Black wants you in his office. Black also wanted me to say a few things that were on my mind. I don't know what he was talking about, so here it goes.

  Sod off.

Sincerely,

Draco Malfoy

Harry growled low in his throat and turned to Ron. "Do you have something to write with?"

"No. But Hermione taught me a new spell the other day that allows you to write with your wand."

  "Well? Show me!"

"Pushy. Just say _scriva_, and then hold your wand like you would a quill. But don't actually touch the parchment while you're writing, otherwise the spell will terminate."

"_Scriva_," Harry murmured and then positioned his wand over the backside of the piece of parchment.

  _Malfoy,_

  Here's a thought... you sod off.

Harry Potter

Ron read it over his shoulder and chuckled. "You do know that he will never stop teasing you for that lame comeback."

  "I don't care. Where'd that damn dragon go?"

As if Wally had heard Harry, he flew to the Gryffindor from behind the knight. Harry held the parchment out uncertainly. "Um... take this to Draco?" Wally let out a large plume of fire, dissolving the parchment and then flew back to the knight. Harry turned to Ron with a disbelieving look on his face. "That was... different. Do you think that's the way he gets messages to people?" Ron shrugged, smiling a little.

"I don't think you're ever going to get back together with Malfoy that way."

  Harry shrugged and began walking away from the infirmary at last. "I'm hoping that this is just a phase. Maybe he'll stop being a jerk one of these days and want to be with me again. Then again, he probably doesn't even like me anymore. He seems to be pretty chummy with Blaise Zabini. Hermione is still friends with him, right?" When Ron did not answer, Harry turned around and stared. Ron was facing in the opposite direction giving two thumbs up, nodding his head vigorously with an insane looking smile on his face. Harry coughed. "Erm - Ron? _What_ are you doing?" Ron jumped and turned to look at his friend, looking oddly sheepish.

He shuffled his feet. "Er - you see that statue at the end of the hallway? Well, I was.. Uh... talking to it yesterday and I've well, I've become friends with it.... He's pretty cool," he finished quietly as his face turned red.

Harry stared in disbelief at his best friend, his face slowly breaking out into a grin, and then finally burst into laughter. The dark-haired boy bent over, clutching his stomach in hysterical laughter as Ron laughed sheepishly. Harry finally stood up and wiped the tears of mirth from his face. "Oh, Ron... you are... you are something. I just don't know what." Harry turned from his friend, intent on getting back to the Common room to do homework. He shook his head as his shoulders shook in silent laughter. "Oh, Merlin, that felt good. Thanks, Ron." The green-eyed boy continued to laugh quietly to himself as he walked down the hall. If he had turned around, he would have seen Hermione stepping out from behind a knight, Wally sitting on her shoulder, congratulating Ron on a job well done.

* * *

_Neville was speechless for a moment. He opened his mouth to answer but something bumped into him. The Gryffindor turned his head towards the interruption but nothing was there. "Neville?" Hannah asked uncertainly._

"Sorry, I thought I felt something bump into me. Er - yes, I'd like that, Hann - oomph." This time, both students knew that Neville had been bumped into when he stumbled back and almost lost his balance. He dropped his books as he grabbed onto a statue of Boris the Bewildered. Both Hannah and Neville looked around to see what was causing it, but they could not find anything. The Gryffindor stood up uncertainly, cautiously looking around. "I wonder what that was," Neville wondered aloud.

"Yeah, that--" Hannah never finished her sentence because a bright blue light exploded between them and shot towards Neville, hitting him square in the chest. He arched his spine backwards, and howled in pain as the light engulfed him, seeming to rip him apart from the inside. Hannah stood by in shock and watched helplessly as Neville absorbed the strange light. Almost a minute after it started, it stopped but Neville was still arched back, panting in pain. Then right before Hannah's eyes, Neville's body dissolved, like salt in water. The only sign that he had just been there, were the Herbology books near the statue with _Neville Longbottom_ scrawled on the top of the front cover.

Hannah drew in a large breath, and screamed.

Five floors above Hannah, in the Gryffindor Common Room, Harry Potter felt a jolt go through his body.


	6. Neville

**A/N:** I recently posted a new fic called, Bound and Broken. Feel free to take a look, and tell me what you think! Thanks to my beta, Padfoot's_Bitch, as always. Also, thanks to the reviewers of the previous chapter. I love hearing from you, so keep it coming!

Also, I think there was some confusion last chapter. The part at the end after the line was a teaser for this chapter. The thing with Neville doesn't happen until now. My fault… I didn't specify what it was.

* * *

**Remember You**  
_Chapter Six_  
~~~~~

It was not until a few days after Harry spoke with Ron about the Quidditch captain issue that McGonagall came to speak with him. He was sitting in the Great Hall, eating dinner with Ron and Hermione on either side of him. "Potter, I would like to see you in my office right now if you are finished eating."

"Yes, Professor," Harry replied as he took one last drink of his pumpkin juice and stood up. The Gryffindor followed the stern professor to her office in silence and immediately sat down when Professor McGonagall closed the door.

  "You're probably wondering if you're in trouble, Potter, but I can assure you that you have done nothing wrong... yet." A faint smile ghosted across her thin lips and Harry smiled a little. "This has to do with Quidditch. As I'm sure Mr. Weasley told you, we are in need of a new Captain. Madam Hooch and I have already discussed the issue as to whom we would like to select and I have already spoken to the other members of the team about whom they would like and it seems we have come to a unanimous decision. I feel that we don't need to wait to make the announcement until next week, so, congratulations, Mr. Potter. You're the new captain." Now McGonagall positively beamed. Harry was not very happy.

  "But..."

  "But what, Mr. Potter?"

  "I... why me?" he asked weakly.

  "Because you are the senior member of the Gryffindor Quidditch team and we all feel that you would be best fitted for the position with your experience and skills."

"Thank you for considering me, but I... I don't want to be Captain."

  McGonagall blinked. "Excuse me?"

"Well, I've just always thought that Ron would make a better Captain than I would. He's so much better at strategizing. Besides, I have so many other things on my mind, Professor. I love Quidditch but it's not one of my priorities." Harry let out a breath. That was something that he would never have heard himself saying in a thousand years. But now that he had said it, it felt like the truth.

The Transfiguration teacher seemed to be at a loss for words. "You're still going to play, aren't you?" she finally asked.

  "Of course! I just don't think I could handle the job. Thank you for even thinking that I might be good at--"

  "Mr. Potter, if I might interrupt... I've just had an idea. Would you accept the position as Captain if you had Mr. Weasley as your co-Captain? Merlin knows you're both more than qualified for it and if you put your heads together, I believe Gryffindor would be unstoppable."

  Harry grinned. "If I might say so, Professor... Gryffindor has always been unstoppable. Well at least since my third year, anyway."

McGonagall smiled. "You're right. But we want to keep up that tradition, now don't we?"

"Okay," Harry conceded. "But only if Ron agrees."

"Certainly. I'll leave it up to you to speak with him. Now, on with you. I believe Professor Black wanted to speak with you as well."

  "Thank you, Professor," Harry grinned and hurried out the door, headed in the direction of Sirius' office. When he arrived, low voices were drifting from beneath the door, so Harry knocked and waited for Sirius to give him permission to enter. He opened the large door when he heard "Enter," and saw Remus sitting in one of the plush, scarlet chairs in front of Sirius' desk. "Remus!" he exclaimed. "Here already?"

The werewolf smiled and reached up to ruffle Harry's hair. "I sure am. How are you doing, Harry? I heard you collapsed in the Great Hall yesterday."

"Oh, yes, I did. I ran out of the potions that Snape makes me and I forgot to ask for more." Harry grimaced. "I'm never going to do that again. Waking up to him leaning over me with that scowl is not pleasant."

Sirius laughed. "Sit down, Harry. You don't have any classes this afternoon, right?"

  "No."

  He brightened up immediately and leaned across his desk, looking at Harry with shining eyes. "You've had an owl today. It came to my office."

Harry furrowed his brow. "Why would it come here and not find me?"

"It was told to, of course."

"I don't understand."

Sirius winked and stood up, striding to the window. He opened it and stuck his head out and whistled. He then stuck his arm out so that it was hidden by the wall. Harry saw a weight settle on it. Sirius turned his head and smiled at Harry. "Close your eyes. The package is a surprise."

Harry blinked in confusion but obliged his godfather. "Hold out your arm," Remus said quietly, a smile lacing his voice. Harry felt a rush of wind flutter through his hair and then an owl landed on his arm. "Open your eyes," Remus said.

Slowly, Harry obeyed and felt his mouth drop open. A beautiful snowy owl was perched on his arm, large amber eyes looking up at him. "Hedwig!" he exclaimed breathlessly. Without a thought, he hugged her with his free arm, burying his nose in her feathers around her neck. She hooted softly and nibbled his ear affectionately. Remus and Sirius were chuckling softly, but Harry did not bother with them. He lifted his head again and grinned, petting Hedwig between the eyes. "Where was she?" he asked quietly, letting the owl nibble at his finger.

"She was found a few kilometres from Smeltings. A Muggle found her and took her in," Sirius said, coming around the desk and petting Hedwig on the top of the head. "Hedwig was badly hurt with a broken wing, and a few internal injuries."

"How did you find her then?"

"Well, the Muggle took Hedwig to the Muggle vet a fair few times to fix her up. About a month ago, a wizard who was studying Muggle ways of healing animals and people was working at this particular clinic and saw Hedwig. He was a little suspicious, so he questioned the woman about how she found her. The woman said that Hedwig was lying in the woods, struggling to breathe. She of course thought it was a bit strange to find a torn piece of paper tied to her leg, so mentioned that as well."

"So, what did the wizard do?" Harry asked, moving his finger below Hedwig's beak and petting her there.

"Hedwig wasn't doing too well," Remus continued, "and they didn't think she'd recover at all. Well, Koski, he's the wizard, told them he knew of a place to take owls. Koski took Hedwig, healed her with magic, and got into contact with people to find out whose owl it was. You would have had Hedwig back sooner, but since she lived with her injuries for so long, the magic could only do so much, and she had to heal the rest of the way by herself. We decided to reunite you with her once she was in good health again."

Hedwig, apparently sick of the constant petting, flew to Harry's shoulder and perched there, ready for a small rest. She tucked her head under her wing. "I thought I would never see her again," Harry confessed, looking to Remus and Sirius.

Sirius nodded. "Yes, we were beginning to lose hope as well." They sat in silence for a few moments before Sirius clapped his hands together and his pale blue eyes began to glow with happiness again.

"Professor McGonagall already told me that you were made Quidditch captain! Congratulations!"

  "Yes, that's great, Harry!" Remus said just as proudly as Sirius.

  Harry smiled thinly. "Yeah, thanks. Well, at least dad will be happy though, right? I'm getting right sick of him insisting that I'm going to be Captain. Let's just hope that he doesn't start bragging to everybody now, eh?" Harry smiled and let his eyes fall onto Sirius' desk, oblivious to the confused look that Sirius sent Remus. Harry's green eyes widened considerably as he took in a red package of candy with a rainbow on the front. "Skittles!" he exclaimed. "Sirius, where did you get Skittles?" Harry looked up at his godfather, and the latter looked back and answered hesitantly as if unsure how Harry would interpret what he was about to say..

  "Remus brought them for me. Your mother introduced me to them while we attended Hogwarts. I haven't had any for years." If anything Harry's smile became wider and he looked suggestively between the two.

  "Really?" he asked slyly. "Isn't that... _sweet?_ Draco would never have done something as thoughtful as that when we were together." The young Gryffindor looked at Sirius with a silly grin on his face. Sirius exchanged looks with Remus, and they both turned pink, making Harry grin even harder.

"Eh... excuse me?" Sirius stuttered.

Harry rolled his eyes. "Honestly. How long do you think you could hide this from me? I may be dense sometimes, but that doesn't mean that I never notice things."

"What are you talking about, Harry?" Remus asked.

  "I saw you two on the platform before the train left. I was looking out the window and I saw how you, Remus, looked at Sirius. And I also saw that you made him blush, which is something that I've never seen Sirius do before."

Remus' eyes glazed over for a few moments and an indulgent smile crossed his face as a memory invaded his mind. Sirius, Harry noticed, was turning pink again. Remus shook his head clean and tried very unsuccessfully to wipe the grin off his face as he looked back to Harry. The werewolf cleared his throat, tried to stop smiling but it was to no avail. Meanwhile, Sirius was turning even redder. Harry chuckled a little and looked down. "I'm all right with it. I mean, obviously, since I'm gay as well, but I wish you guys would have trusted me enough to tell me."

Sirius finally found his voice. "Harry, it was never that we didn't trust you with the information. I told you on your birthday that I was in a new relationship that still needed to be smoothed out. We didn't say anything sooner because we wanted to work things out in private while people didn't know anything about us."

"In fact, Harry," Remus began. "This is another reason why Sirius wanted you here in his office now. We were going to tell you today because well..." Here Remus even turned a little pink. "I'm going to be living with Sirius in his quarters and we didn't want you to find out after I moved in. Plus, you are our family and you deserve to know."

Harry smiled. "Thanks. Can I ask you something?"

  "Sure," Sirius replied, smiling.

"Is this first time you two have been together? Or were you together before?"

Sirius sighed and leaned back in his chair. "We were together for a very short time before.... before your parents died..." Sirius seemed to be stressing this last statement. Harry blinked. His parents died? But he had just spoken to his mum the day before. Sirius paused for a couple moments, studying Harry's face before he continued. "Anyway, it was complicated back then, and now with everything that we've been through, it's even more so. We never got the chance to be together again until the beginning of the summer holidays."

"It's working out now, I hope?" Harry asked.

  Sirius and Remus exchanged looks and they smiled fondly at each other. The look of undisguised love in their eyes made Harry's heart ache with the thought that Draco may never look at him that way ever again. "Yes, it is," the two men answered at the same time.

"Good. I'm glad for you," he said sincerely.

"Thank you, Harry," Remus replied.

  Harry nodded in acknowledgement as he lowered his head so that he could look at his lap. He could feel a lump in his throat. He blinked furiously. "Harry," Sirius ventured quietly. "It'll work out between you and Draco. You couldn't have possibly done anything that bad."

  "But I did!" Harry exclaimed as he looked up earnestly into his godfather's eyes. "I did," he said more quietly, looking down once more. "I wouldn't blame him if he never wanted to see my face ever again."

  "What happened?" Sirius asked quietly.

"I... I... He saw me."

"Saw you doing what?"

Harry drew a shaky breath. "He saw me... saw me kissing Charlie."

  "You cheated on him?" Remus gasped in surprise.

"I didn't mean for it to happen! Draco was pushing me away, and treating me like I meant nothing to him. I didn't know how to feel. I felt worthless and unwanted. And Charlie was so good to me, and I _knew_ that he fancied me. I didn't know where Draco stood on his feelings for me anymore. Charlie was just there, and he was willing to be with me. Draco didn't ever want to be left alone with me and I don't know why."

The dark-haired boy looked up in trepidation at Sirius and was surprised at what he saw. Sirius had his jaw clenched and his eyes were flashing with anger. "Sirius?" Harry asked tentatively. "Are you angry with me or something?"

"No, Harry, I'm not. I'm mad as hell at Charlie. He's too damn old for you and I told him to stay away from you!"

"Sirius, don't do anything to him, please," Harry pleaded. "It was my fault just as much as it was his. I probably encouraged him, no matter how unintentional it was. I should have never sat next to him on the couch that day, but I needed to feel wanted and I knew he would. I don't think I realised that at the time, but that's why I sat next to him. Normally, I sat on a different couch or chair. Please don't do anything. Charlie is a good friend no matter what happened. He's been trying to write to Draco about what happened."

"If you insist on it, I won't do anything. But if he ever tries anything on you again, I won't be persuaded otherwise."

  Harry smiled a little. "All right. Is it all right if I go now? I'm going to go do some homework in the Common Room with Ron and Hermione."

  "Sure. Here..." Sirius paused as he opened a drawer on his desk. "Have some Skittles." He then threw three one-pound bags of the Muggle sweets to Harry. "Give a bag to Ron and Hermione."

  "Don't you want these?"

"No," Sirius waved him off. "I have two drawers full of the bags. Remus is good to me," he grinned. Harry found it hard to keep the grin off his own face.

"Okay. Thanks. I'll see you later, then."

"Sure thing, Harry. Congratulations again on being made Captain."

Harry waved and left the office, Hedwig following behind him.

**

Neville Longbottom walked cheerfully through the front doors of Hogwarts castle. He had just come from an extra tutoring session with Professor Sprout and was in quite a good mood. The Gryffindor boy was having a rather good term at Hogwarts so far, even though it had just begun. He had decided to take an extra Herbology class so that he could prepare for a career in that field once he left Hogwarts the following June. Sprout had always been quite good to Neville since he had arrived in his first year. She claimed to have gained a soft spot for the boy, and though she would never have admitted it, she thought of him like the son she had never had. Neville had often thought of her as a mother figure as well, but he tried to stay away from those thoughts since his own mother was in St. Mungo's. It felt like a betrayal to his mother to pretend like somebody else was his mother. Besides, he had Gran, and she was good to Neville.

Neville whistled a happy tune as he climbed the steps, mindful for once of the trick steps. As he walked, he passed Hannah Abbot from Hufflepuff and immediately stopped whistling. Hannah waved. "Hey, Neville!" she called.

  "Oh... hi, Hannah," he replied quietly, his cheeks flushing. The Hufflepuff approached him with a small smile.

"Where are you coming from?"

"I was with Professor Sprout. I'm taking an extra Herbology class, and I was just asking her some questions before I have the class."

  "Oh, really? I'm taking Herbology as well!" Hannah smiled brightly. "Maybe we'll be together in that class as well as our normal class."

  Neville flushed again, as was his habit whenever Hannah was around. He had begun fancying her in fifth year, but was never quite sure enough of himself to make anything of it. "That would be nice," he replied.

  The two stared at each other for a few moments, before Hannah attempted to say something. "Neville... I... I was wondering if you would... er - if you would like to study with me later. I always like having somebody to work with in case I need to ask something.... so, would you want to?"

Neville was speechless for a moment. He opened his mouth to answer but something bumped into him. The Gryffindor turned his head towards the interruption but nothing was there. "Neville?" Hannah asked uncertainly.

  "Sorry, I thought I felt something bump into me. Er - yes, I'd like that, Hann-- oomph." This time, both students knew that something had bumped into Neville when he stumbled back and almost lost his balance. He dropped his books as he grabbed onto the statue of the humpbacked witch. Both Hannah and Neville looked around to see what was causing it, but they could not find anything. The Gryffindor stood up uncertainly, cautiously looking around. "I wonder what that was," Neville wondered aloud.

"Yeah, that--" Hannah never finished her sentence because a bright blue light exploded between them and shot at Neville, hitting him square in the chest. His spine arched backwards, and he howled in pain as the light engulfed him, seeming to rip him apart from the inside. Hannah stood by in shock and watched helplessly as Neville absorbed the strange light. It stopped after about a minute but Neville was still arched back, panting in pain. Then, right before Hannah's eyes, Neville's body dissolved, like salt in water. The only sign that he had just been there were the Herbology books near the statue with _Neville Longbottom_ scrawled on the front of the top book .

Hannah drew in a large breath, and screamed.

Five floors above Hannah, in the Gryffindor Common Room, Harry Potter felt a jolt go through his body.

**

A week later, Ron and Harry were walking to the Quidditch pitch, the trunk of balls suspended between the two of them. At first, the plan had been to have try-outs the day after informing Ron of his new position of co-Captain. But, then the news had come that Neville Longbottom had mysteriously disappeared. None of the teachers confirmed the rumour, but from Hannah Abbott's story that was circulating the school like wildfire, Neville was presumed dead. Gryffindor, along with the rest of the school went into a state of shock, and then mourning. The whole school was still feeling a bit numb with this recent loss, and now everybody was on the lookout for anything strange. If it had been up to Harry, he would have postponed Quidditch indefinitely. But as McGonagall, Sirius, Remus, and Dumbledore had put it, life must go on. Neville would not have wanted the whole school to stop just because he was gone.

  Neville's grandmother had been called in immediately. Sirius had told Harry, Ron, and Hermione that Neville's Gran and the staff of Hogwarts were still holding onto some hope that Neville was around somewhere. His grandmother refused to hold a funeral because she firmly believed that he was alive, no matter how clumsy or forgetful the boy was. Hannah had told her story, and it had confirmed the elderly woman's belief that her grandson was still alive. Because of this, all the students, faculty, and Neville's grandmother had been sworn to secrecy of the entire event. It would do no good for a story like this to be printed in the _Daily Prophet_, not until there was reasonable doubt of Neville's survival. Until then, the Order of the Phoenix had been called upon to work on Neville's disappearance.

Ron and Harry were currently in the middle of a heated debate that had been going on from the time that Harry had informed Ron of his co-Captaincy. "Harry, how can you be so sure about this? I mean, don't you want to be the Captain by yourself?"

"Ron, for the last bloody time, I don't want to be Captain by myself and you're just the person I needed to at least get out of being full-time Captain. You're perfect for the job, and I honestly don't understand why you're making such a big deal out of this."

  "Because this is your job! You're the one who is supposed to the Gryffindor Captain, not me!"

"Says who?" Harry shot back as they set the trunk of balls down. The darker boy put his hands on his hips and looked at his friend expectantly. "Huh, Ron? Who?"

"I... well, me."

"That's not good enough. Just because you say it, doesn't mean it's set in stone."

"I didn't say that."

"That's exactly what you're saying! Just drop it, Ron! Stop making such a big fuss. I know you want to help with the job, so just _stop complaining_."

  Harry turned to the large crowd that was walking towards them and saw Austin heading the group, broom in hand. Harry smiled and waved at the younger boy who waved back. Oddly enough, the whole group hesitantly waved back. Harry shook his head in laughter. He was not even waving to any of them.

"Hello all!" Harry called out happily. He was beginning to suspect that Quidditch would be a nice reprieve from all his other worries, mainly Draco and Neville. He was already in a chipper mood. "Gather 'round Ron and me, please!" It took a few moments for the expectants to form a semi-circle around the two boys. When they did, Harry looked at them appraisingly, even winking at Austin. A girl with wavy brown hair behind Austin blushed and looked down. Ron elbowed him in the side.

  "Stop winking at the girls, Harry. That's my job," he teased.

"What are you talking about? I was winking at Austin."

"Austin? Who's that?"

Harry stared disbelievingly. "Don't give me that, Ron. You know perfectly well who he is. In fact, I'm kind of offended that you _don't_ know who he is, considering you've known him for just as long as you've known me."

"Um..." Ron articulately said. "Is he your boyfriend now or something?"

"Ron, that's disgusting. I can't even begin to tell you how many ways that would be wrong. Stop being a prat and be quiet." Harry turned to the crowd again and smiled, making the girl blush again. Shaking his head, he continued shouting out to them. "Welcome to Quidditch try-outs everybody!" The group cheered. "Now," Harry began again as they quieted down. "As you all know, we're looking for one chaser, and the seventh years have decided to train people for next year. So, we're looking for another Seeker, Keeper, and another Chaser for reserves. Divide yourselves up into groups. Chasers on my left, Seekers in front of me, and Keepers in front of Ron." Just then, Lavender Brown and Ginny came running onto the pitch and stopped in front of Harry, trying to catch their breath. He raised an eyebrow at them as they tried to speak.

  "Sorry," Ginny puffed, "we're late. What's... going on?'

  "Well, I was just telling them to divide into groups. You and Lavender will divide the Chasers to make two teams, I'll send all hopeful Seekers up at once, and Ron, you'll put one person on each end of the pitch. Alternate when one misses the Quaffle three times. Then, if Tom and Eric ever get here..." Harry looked up at the castle, straining his eyes against the bright midday sun and saw two figures hurrying down the sloping lawns of Hogwarts towards the pitch. Tom and Eric were two bulky sixth years that had made the team the previous year and Harry quite liked having them on the team. They gave the beaters on the other teams a run for their money. "Ah, here they come. We'll put Tom and Eric into the air and see how the hopefuls do against a couple of bludgers. Then we four will go in the stands and watch." Harry smiled brightly at them. "Well? Go tell your groups what's going on!" Ron shook his head, silently laughing. Harry frowned, but ignored him as he walked to the small group of three. The girl with wavy brown hair was in this group and she began to blush furiously as Harry drew near. Harry smiled kindly at her.

  "What's your name?" he asked.

"Melinda," she squeaked out nervously, daring not to meet Harry's eyes.

"Well, Melinda, I'm Harry. What year are you?"

  "Fifth."

"Hmm, that's a good year. Trying out for Seeker, are you?" She nodded her head, still refusing to meet his eyes. Harry smiled and shook his head as he turned to the other two. There was a boy whom Harry thought to be a sixth year and another girl whom Harry had just started seeing around the Common Room, but had never really registered into his brain, and guessed her to be at least a fourth year. Harry only noticed now that she was quite beautiful, so he turned to the boy. "What are your names, then?" he asked.

The boy smiled brightly. He had hair as dark as Harry's, though he had recently shaved it and it was just starting to grow back. "I'm Xavier and I'm a sixth year." Harry nodded and turned to the other girl. She seemed to be a lot braver than Melinda and looked Harry defiantly in the eye.

"I'm Prestina," she said haughtily as she flung her silver-blond hair behind her head. Harry's eyes widened slightly as he felt the sudden urge to impress her.

Harry gulped and stepped back. "You're a Veela," he stated plainly.

"I'm half Veela."

  "I've never seen you around before."

"I just transferred from Beauxbatons. My mother wanted me closer to home, so I came here."

"Oh, I hope you like it here so far."

"I can show you around if you want," Xavier offered, stepping closer to Prestina.

She blinked her long lashes at him and smiled. Harry coughed to rid himself of his feeling of attraction for her, and it effectively distracted Prestina from sending out her magic to Xavier. Xavier blinked and looked at Harry, though his eyes wandered over to the blonde girl every few seconds. Harry did not get a chance to say anything since Lavender and Ginny had just approached his group.

"Harry?" Lavender began. "We have five people trying out for Chasers. Did you want one of us to go up there with them?"

  Harry looked over at the group and found Austin glaring angrily at the two girls and then angrily at the group of five a couple feet from him. "What on earth are you talking about, Lavender? Austin is over there and that makes six. There's no need for either one of you to go up there."

Both Lavender and Ginny glanced back over to the group, both of their eyes passing right over Austin. "Who?" Ginny asked."

"Austin. Oh, never mind! Austin, join the group with two. Never mind Ginny and Lavender."

"Thanks, Harry," Austin called with a grin.

Both of the Chasers stared at Harry and then back at the expectant group. "Honestly, Harry," Lavender said. "Who's Austin? I only see five people there, and I've never heard of anybody named Austin before. What year is he?"

  "He's a fifth year! Merlin, why doesn't anybody know who he is? He's been here the entirety of his school career! Is he invisible to you people?" Harry turned back to his Seekers and smiled at Xavier and Melinda, deliberating not looking at Prestina. "Anyway, you three are going up at the same time. I know that there are only two teams, but this way is easier. Whoever catches the snitch first gets to be reserve and the Seeker next year. So, good luck." He then turned to the other groups and announced "Get up in the air, everybody and warm up. Ron will set out the snitch and toss the Quaffle when everyone has done five laps. You will play a normal game until the Snitch is caught. Then the team and I will decide which of you gets to be on the team." The bludgers were already racing around the pitch with the two beaters hot on their tail. Once all the hopefuls were in the air, he said to the team, "I'm going to the stands. Come on, Lavender, Ginny. Follow me." The two girls followed a bit moodily after being snapped at, but followed Harry anyway. By the time they got into their seats, the players had done their five laps and were in the normal starting positions for a real game with Ron acting as Madam Hooch. The redhead let the snitch go and Harry watched it until it disappeared from view, and then watched as Ron threw the Quaffle up into the air. Lavender squealed with obvious joy as a sixth year boy grabbed it and flew off towards a goal post.

  "Oh, if we decide on him, I want to be the one to train him," she gushed to Ginny. "Did you see how dreamy he is?"

"Derek?" Ginny asked in disbelief. "I prefer Xavier myself. I like the dark and handsome sort of man." Harry snorted. Ginny looked at Harry with obvious amusement. "Except you of course, Harry," she teased. "Xavier has dark hair and dark eyes. Your eyes, Harry, are too green... too light." Ginny grinned as Harry childishly stuck his tongue out at her.

"I have to disagree with you, Ginny," Lavender said smartly. "I don't normally go for guys with dark hair. But since Harry does have light eyes, it makes up for his dark hair. Actually…" she said as she grabbed Harry's chin, forcing him to look at her. He stared wide-eyed at her contemplative face. "They aren't really that light. They're just pretty and I'm a sucker for pretty green eyes." Harry blushed crimson and turned his head so that he could watch the players. But he had seen a mischievous gleam in Ginny's eye and he held his breath.

"Care to share your opinion, Harry?" she asked slyly. "Who would you pick? Derek or Xavier - light or dark?"

"Don't be silly, Ginny," Lavender admonished. "Harry's a boy. Why would he say which out of the two is better looking?"

"I'm just saying in general. Does he prefer light or dark. I think I may have an idea, though."

  Harry covered his mouth and coughed, hoping that Ron would come and save him. He turned and looked at the girls as they stared back expectantly. He sighed. "Light. I generally like blond hair, with grey eyes. I do know somebody with silver eyes though and they are..." Harry shivered, remembering Draco looking at him with love showing clearly in his silver eyes. "They are the most… lovely eyes that I've ever seen." He glanced at Ginny briefly and saw her looking at him sadly. His eyes passed over Lavender and he was somewhat frightened by what he saw. She was staring at him, looking like a hungry predator. "Er - Lavender? Are you feeling alright?"

"Yes. You know, Harry... I'm blonde. I don't have silver or grey eyes, but they are light blue." She fluttered her lashes.

"Oh. Um... actually, I'm sort of involved with somebody right now."

"Really? Then how come it hasn't been in the Daily Prophet?" she asked in all seriousness. Harry gaped.

"I... I... well we've wanted to keep it a secret. Besides, we've kind of hit a rough spot and we broke up a couple weeks ago. But I'm still hoping that we'll get back together, so I don't want to ruin those chances by being with somebody else."

"Ooh, who is it?" Lavender asked excitedly.

  Ron chose that moment to climb to the top, panting. "Who chose these seats? I'm feeling very fat right now," he complained as he slumped next to his sister.

"Oh, but you are, dearest brother," Ginny laughed as she poked Ron's stomach. "Besides, you're the one who didn't _fly_ up here, you utter idiot."

"I didn't bring my broom today. I didn't think I would need to fly, and if I did, I'd borrow somebody else's." He then half-heartedly swatted her hand away which was still poking him in the stomach and pretended to pass out. After that, all attention was turned away from Harry and his love life. Harry could not have thanked Ron enough for his excellent timing, something that the red head was becoming a pro at, whether he knew it or not.

A mere half an hour later, Harry was on his feet and shouting at the top of his lungs for one of his Seekers to catch the snitch. It had been spotted and all three were diving after the golden ball. Prestina was ahead of the other two, but as they neared the ground, she panicked and pulled up from the dive. Xavier and Melinda kept going. They were neck and neck and both reaching for the same point. Before Harry knew what happened, they both swiped at their target and then pulled up out of the dive. They came to a stop and stared at each other. Harry watched them in confusion for a few moments. "Well? This isn't a staring contest!" he yelled. Melinda held up her hand and Harry could just barely see the snitch's wings. Xavier scowled and flew to the ground. Melinda looked at Harry and, even from the distance, saw her blushing. She also flew to the ground and Ron called the other players to stop playing.

Ron pointed his wand at his throat and muttered, "_sonorus._ You may go back to the castle. The new team members will be announced within the next week. Thank you for trying out and good luck!"

"I think Derek should be the new chaser," Ron said. "He scored five times."

"What about Austin?" Harry asked. "He was really good as well."

Ron closed his eyes briefly and then gave Ginny and Lavender a look. They took a hint and left down the stairs. "Harry," he began quietly. "I honestly don't know who you're talking about. I heard you yell to this Austin kid to go on the uneven team, but yet they were still playing with two people. Where'd he go?"

  "Ron," Harry said exasperated. "He was there! Why does everybody refuse to see him? He's a really nice guy and he's really good at Quidditch. I think he deserves a spot on the team, and I'm not just saying that because I'm related to him."

  Ron stared incredulous. "Related?" he finally asked faintly. "Er - not to be mean or anything... but Harry... you don't have any blood relatives left besides for your aunt and uncle."

  Harry clenched his jaw. "Fine," he replied tightly. "Be that way." He stormed past his friend, pushing him to the side.

***

  Despite Harry's arguments over the coming weeks, there was no one who acknowledged Austin's existence. Ron had refused to let Austin on the team because he claimed that Austin had skipped out on practice because he had never seen him play before. So, it was reluctantly announced by Harry a week after try-outs that Derek was the new chaser. Lavender, of course, was disappointed since that meant she could not actually train him. But, Ginny pointed out that she would get more one-on-one since Derek was not just a reserve. Lavender had been very happy after that. Harry was only really happy about the appointed person for seeker, Melinda. She was a natural Quidditch player and very quiet. She barely, if ever, spoke in Harry's presence and he was strongly reminded of Ginny when she had had a crush on him. He sincerely hoped it would pass for this girl as it had for Ginny, because there was no denying that she did not have a long shot... considering she was missing a certain, rather important appendage for Harry. September flew by quickly for the entire team as they practiced extremely hard for their first match against Ravenclaw in November. October blew in with the bitingly cold wind and people were hassling Madam Pomfrey every day for cold remedies, and lotion for chapped cheeks after Quidditch practices.

After a particularly trying practice, Harry dragged himself into the Common Room and dumped his bag at a table next to Hermione, making her blot her Charms essay. She glared angrily as she took the mistake off with her wand. He grinned sheepishly and sat, resting his head on his bag. "Long practice?" she asked as she flipped through a book.

"That's an understatement. Ron is still out there, training his keeper for next year. I don't know why. He's bloody crazy."

Hermione smiled but just pointed at a letter in front of her. "That's for you. I expect it's from Draco again." Harry smiled brightly and ripped it open. Sure enough, Draco's tidy handwriting stared up at him.

_Potter,_

I must remind you that you have broken one of Draco's laws. I sincerely hope you know that I have been delaying your punishment. I hope you realise what the punishment is.

Your attempts at insults make me laugh. If you insist on keeping up this letter war, think of something original. Until you do, I will not waste my breath, or rather ink.

Watch your back, Potter.

Draco Malfoy

Harry reread the letter three more times and sighed. Ever since that first letter that had been delivered by Wally, they had been sending rude letters to each other. But, Draco did have a point. Harry's insults had started out lame, and became gradually even lamer as time went on. But Harry needed this little contact with the Slytherin. It kept him sane. It kept him alive, if only to see Draco's handwriting once a day.

Hermione looked up from her work. "What'd he say this time?"

Harry folded up the letter and threw it aside. "Just that my insults are lame. And something about me breaking his law, or something and that he's been delaying my punishment. He didn't say what it was though."

Hermione pursed her lips to keep from smiling. "Did he say Draco's law by any chance?"

  "Yeah. I'm kind of scared to tell you the truth. Who knows what he does in his spare time now. He's probably been thinking of new laws for himself and ways to punish people who break them - mainly me."

"I don't think he's making up laws by himself, Harry. He might have made up the law on cheating because I'm not sure if there ever was one, to be honest. But I believe he's referring to Draco, a Greek who codified the law. Death was the punishment for everybody who broke the law." Hermione bit her lip, trying to keep her smile from appearing.

"Oh, great. So he's going to try to kill me now?"

  "I doubt it. He is probably just trying to get across to you how upset he is about this whole business. I wouldn't have put it past Draco before I knew him to kill somebody, but I know now that he wouldn't. You should know that as well, Harry. I don't think he could live with himself, especially if he did kill somebody he loves, and he loves you."

  Harry bit his lip, sighed again, and decided to not write back. He would find another way to keep in touch with Draco. Bound to doing his homework now, he opened his bag and began pulling from it the things he needed. A stack of parchment fluttered out as he pulled out his Charms book and fell to the floor. He cursed and kneeled on the floor to pick them up, but he stopped as one of them caught his eye. They were all blank, except for one. On this piece that was particularly wrinkled, words began to appear and formed a short sentence. With a trembling hand, Harry picked it up and held it so close to his face that the words began to blur. He pulled it back again and stared, unable to believe what was happening. But how had this gotten into his bag? He did not remember putting it in there that morning.

"Harry?" Hermione asked curiously. "Why are you staring at that piece of parchment like that?"

  The dark-haired boy let out a breath that he had not realised that he had been holding and held the parchment close to his chest. "Nothing. It's not important." Hermione shrugged and went back to her work. When Harry looked again, the words had disappeared as if they had never been there. But he knew what he had read. When he climbed into bed that night, the words were burned into his mind.

  _I miss you._

***

Over the next couple days, Harry began watching the orb more and more. He felt that he just had to always see his parents in the orb. This started to seem a bit silly to him since he could see his parents anytime he wanted. All he had to do was owl them and say that he wanted to see them. He was sure they would come.

The orb also helped him to cope and stay sane. The same message was popping up on the parchment every night now at the exact same time. Harry always made sure that he was there, watching it. When the words came, his heart would beat rapidly, and his stomach would flutter with excitement as possibilities raced in his mind. When the words disappeared, every good feeling disappeared and the urge to watch the orb to feel comforted became stronger than ever.

Harry awoke one morning, two weeks from Halloween, still feeling the side effects from the jet of red light. He was pleasantly surprised and happy by this since Draco's message had not appeared on the parchment the previous night. Harry had waited patiently, and had even held his quill over it, ready to write something, but every time he had lowered the tip, he had hastily pulled back, thinking that Draco would write any second. Because of his anticipation, Harry had not done his potions work for the class that morning. The calm brought by the red light, however, did not let him feel panic. He calmly dressed, grabbed his bag, and walked down to the Common Room to meet his friends.

Ron and Hermione were already sitting on the couch, in the middle of a subdued snogging session. Harry sniggered, which made Hermione jump away from her boyfriend with a flushed face. "Now, Hermione," Harry teased. "What kind of example are you setting as Head Girl for the young, impressionable minds around here, by snogging your boyfriend where everybody can see you?"

  "Haaar-ry!" Ron whined. "Why'd you have to stop us? There was nobody else here but you!"

Harry heard a small giggle by the window and looked over to see Sierra, working on some last minute homework. "Not true. Look... Sierra is over there, trying to do her homework, like a good student should." Harry grinned as Hermione and Ron looked around him, trying to see the first year.

"Who?" Hermione asked. "Is she a first year?"

Harry sighed. "Yes. I don't know why you don't know that, Hermione."

"Well, I've honestly never seen her before.... I still don't, as a matter of fact. Where is she?"

"She's sitting by the window." Harry gestured tiredly and began walking towards the portrait hole. He inwardly growled when he heard Ron whisper to Hermione.

  "There's nobody over there. Do you think Sierra is like Austin?"

  "Quiet, Ron. You don't want to upset him again over this. Maybe there really are two students with those names. Just because we haven't seen them, doesn't mean they don't exist."

  "I'm going to breakfast!" Harry announced so that they would quit talking about him like he wasn't there.

  "We'll see you there, Harry," Hermione replied. "I have to get a book from my dorm." With that, Hermione hurried up the stairs, and Harry climbed out of the portrait hole. As he descended the stairs onto the sixth floor, he came upon Austin, who was standing still, looking over the railing.

  "Hey, Austin. What are you doing?"

  Austin looked over his shoulder and smiled at Harry. "Nothing. I opened my bag and my quill flew over the railing. I'm terrible at summoning charms."

  "I'm decent at them. Maybe I can get it for you." Harry looked over the railing, searching for the quill. "I just need to know where it is, otherwise I'll end up summoning quills from everyone's bags."

"I didn't see where it fell. Oh, never mind. I have another one that I can use. Besides, I might find it on my way down." He forced a smile onto his face that looked more like a grimace.

  "Hey, what's wrong?" Harry asked concerned, placing a hand on the younger boy's elbow.

"Oh, I've just been having a bad term so far, is all. Sirius summoned me into his office already this morning and told me that I need to get my grades up and if I didn't, McGonagall would have to speak with mum and dad. Plus, with not making the Quidditch team, and everybody thinking I don't exist. It's pretty depressing."

Harry sighed. "I don't know what everybody's problem is. Ron and Hermione just did it to Sierra a few moments ago. And I tried to talk them into putting you on the team because you were way better than Derek by a long shot. I'm not just saying that either. That's the honest truth."

Austin smiled a real smile this time. "Thanks, Harry. Coming from you, that means a lot."

"Oi, Harry!" Ron shouted from the stairs behind the two boys. "You sure are slow!" Harry turned warily, his hand gripping Austin's elbow tighter. Ron and Hermione stopped when they got a complete view of Harry. They moved forward cautiously, eyeing the two boys warily. "Who are you?" Ron asked Austin. Harry pulled Austin flush to his side protectively.

"Merlin, Ron! You know damn well who this is! It's Austin, for goodness sakes! Why do insist on being so rude?"

"Hey, Ron, Hermione," Austin nodded politely.

  "Hello," Hermione said, quietly, eyeing him up and down.

"Bloody hell," Ron said faintly. "You two look exactly alike... I mean, except for the hair colour and glasses, and scar.... and Austin is shorter."

  Harry rolled his eyes. "You act as if you've never seen him before. And it's like I said before... We're related, as in, we come from the same bloodline. Look, I have to talk to him about something. Just go on ahead to breakfast. I'll be right there." The two nodded their assent and walked slowly away, eyeing Austin curiously.

  "Never mind, Harry," Austin said hastily when they finally got out of earshot. "I'm just going to go straight to Transfiguration. I'll see you later, all right?"

"Okay," Harry said quietly as the other boy pulled his arm out of Harry's grip and quickly walked away.

Harry went to breakfast, but did not register what he was eating. He was too preoccupied worrying about Austin's well-being. The younger Gryffindor really seemed to be depressed, and Harry really wanted to help. The dark-haired boy went to Potions in the same daze and did not wake up from it until he noticed that Professor Snape was standing in front of him, scowling heavily. "Potter, have you decided to wake up yet, or do we need to send you back to bed?" he sneered.

"Er - sorry, Professor. Were you asking me something?"

"I am collecting your assignments from last week. Do you have yours?"

  Harry paused and suddenly felt a bit of panic rise up at the thought that he had been careless enough to not do it. "Er - no, Professor. I was distracted last night and I sort of forgot to finish it." Even without looking, Harry knew that Hermione was glaring at him.

  "You _sort of_ forgot to finish it?" Snape sneered. "Well, what would you think if I _sort of_ forgot to pass you in my class?"

"I... I don't know, sir," Harry stuttered.

"I assume that you would probably be a little upset, would you not? I recommend keeping up with your studies, Potter. You have already been sliding this term, and if you are not careful, you might find yourself with a tutor, or Merlin forbid, extra work. But I think we would all agree that if it came to extra work, you would not have a chance in passing, as you cannot even do the work that everybody is assigned." Harry swallowed and fought off the urge to look away from Snape's cruel black eyes. "Twenty points from Gryffindor for your unwillingness to do your homework. Make that another ten for not paying attention in class. I expect that assignment on my desk before dinner."

With that, Snape swept away in a swirl of robes to the front of the classroom to begin his lecture for the day. Harry slumped in his seat, feeling very foolish. How could he have been so careless as to forget to do his homework? As Harry brought out his quill and began taking notes, he felt eyes boring into his head. The Gryffindor looked up and took in a sharp breath of air. Draco's intense silver eyes were holding Harry's eyes in their gaze. Harry tried to discern what kind of thoughts and emotions were flowing through the Slytherin's eyes, but they were shut off from the world. Harry swallowed thickly, wanting nothing more than the boy staring back at him.

  "Mr. Malfoy," Snape interrupted their staring contest. Draco blinked, and licked his lips. "What are the main uses for thyme?" Harry immediately felt the loss of those eyes as Draco turned away and answered the question with complete accuracy. He was so busy staring at the back of Draco's head, that he did not even give himself room to seethe when Snape awarded ten points to Slytherin.

The rest of the morning passed by with no major incidents. Harry had to skip lunch so that he could finish his potions assignment, but he got it done and did not have time to hand it in until after the last class of the day. So, hurrying to the dungeons before dinner, Harry headed towards Snape's office and knocked on the door. "Enter," Snape's low voice said.

Harry walked in. "Professor, I have the..." His voice failed him as he took in the sight of Draco sitting in front of Snape's desk, staring back at Harry. The Gryffindor stopped walking and stared. "…the assignment," he finished quietly, still not able to tear his eyes away from Draco. Harry's heart constricted painfully as he absorbed Draco's features. Nothing had changed about him, except for slight bags under his eyes that had been present since Harry had seen him on the train. Draco licked his lips again, and Harry could not help but let his gaze move down and travel over the pink lips. The darker boy just managed to hold back a small whimper, as want, lust, and love travelled through his body. It was so thick that Harry could feel it in the air, and he hoped that Draco was feeling the same.

"Potter!" Snape barked suddenly, making the Gryffindor jump and look at the professor. "Either give me that assignment, or go to dinner!"

  "Sorry," Harry muttered and quickly placed the assignment on his desk.

  "Now get out of my office!"

Harry turned hastily and headed for the door. As he closed it behind himself, he caught sight of Draco looking back at him. Just before he snapped the door shut, Draco sent him a small smile, and winked. The Gryffindor stood in front of the office door for a few moments, unable to comprehend that Draco had acknowledged him in such a way. Taking a small step backwards, Harry let a small smile cross his face. Maybe Draco was almost ready to speak with him again. Harry let out a low chuckle and walked briskly towards the Great Hall, feeling better than he had in months.

* * *

**This is the teaser!**

_I'd do anything to change this. I want to tell you what I wouldn't before. I want to tell you why I pushed you away. I want you. But I want to stop seeing you and him together. .... I miss you, Harry. I can't get more honest than this. I wish I could get the guts to tell you this to your face or write you a real letter because I know you're not reading this now. Most of all, I wish I didn't have to sound like such a bloody fool while writing all of this. But I can't think of any other way to say it. Someday, I want to be with you again. I just hope that we'll be able to forgive each other for the things we've done. I don't have much else to say except... I love you._

  Draco 


	7. The Reason For It All

**A/N:** I received an email today from somebody today (named Angel, I believe), but I couldn't reply as I forgot that it was waiting for me to reply, and I accidentally emptied my inbox. So, thanks for the tip on how to try to get my disk back to normal. I tried what you suggested, but I don't know if I did it correctly. It's still saying that the disk is unrecognizable because it's not formatted. I'm a complete computer moron. Thanks to everybody who reviewed the previous chapters. It's nice to hear what you think. Please keep the response coming! Also, thanks to my beta, Padfoots_Bitch, who does a lovely job every time. **Warning:** While I did not write anything graphic into the chapter, there is a large, emotional conversation of nonconsensual sex in this chapter. Please don't read if you're bothered by it. Also, I claim no real life knowledge to it, and have tried my best to get the reactions real and not contrived, in this chapter and throughout the rest of the story.

* * *

**Remember You**  
_Chapter Seven_  
~~~~~ 

Wednesday night found Harry, Ron, and Hermione sitting around the Common room fire. Hermione was lying down with her head in Ron's lap and Harry was sitting in a chair by himself. He was pretending to read the third book in The Chronicles of Narnia, while looking at his piece of parchment, hoping for Draco to write something. The past two nights, Draco had merely written Harry's name and nothing else. The Gryffindor began to wonder if Draco actually wanted to continue writing, or if he was just seeing if Harry would answer. Harry sighed deeply, as the waiting grew longer and longer. Ron looked over at him.

"Hey, mate, I haven't seen you turn the page once since you opened that thing," he commented, sounding a little concerned. "Is there something wrong?"

"No. I'm just thinking."

"About what?" Hermione inquired, not raising her head from Ron's lap.

"Erm - just Draco. He's been acting a little strange lately."

"Really?" Hermione's interest had been piqued and she sat up and looked at her friend intently.

"Yeah," Harry sighed as he let his eyes fall to the parchment. He spoke slowly as he read the message that was slowly appearing. "It's nothing that I should worry about..." 

"Yeah?" Ron prodded.

"He's just... been... nice to me."

_Harry, I know you probably have this stuffed under your things in your trunk..._

"Has he been speaking to you again?" Ron asked.

_...and that's why I'm taking the chance at writing this. I know this will disappear before you see what I'm writing. You know well enough that I would never say these things out loud. I'm not good at the whole tell-how-I'm-feeling sort of business._

"No. He... just doesn't glare or sneer anymore..."

_I hate what you did to me. I really do. When I saw you and him together, I wanted to kill both of you. I hated that feeling you evoked in me. I've never felt anything stronger in my entire life, and it was terrible._

"He's been talking about you more," Hermione said brightly. "Every time we have to do something together, he says something about you."

_Jealousy is a terrible thing. I can say that because on that day, I almost killed you without realising it. I've had a lot of time to think, and a lot of time to talk to people about this. The more I think, and the more I talk, the more I realise something.…_

"Oh?" Harry finally replied, glancing up at his friends quickly.

_I don't know if I'll ever say this out loud to anybody... not even you. And you're the person that deserves to hear it the most. But... it's not really my style to say things like this. Hell, I'm probably breaking every Malfoy code of conduct there is just by writing all this mushy crap. I'm probably breaking one of Draco's laws right now.... I wonder if you ever figured that out, or if Hermione ever told you about that. I hope not. I definitely don't want to kill you._

Anyway, I've realised, that I love you. I know what you're thinking; you've already told me that before, Draco. I have said it. But I didn't truly know what it meant. I knew that I cared for you more than I've ever cared for anybody before. I knew that I liked being with you. I knew that I wanted to protect you. But I didn't realise that I could ever really_ love you._

Since we've been apart, I think I've come to a better understanding of what love is. I can't say I understand it completely, because it's so complex and has so many meanings. But I think I have figured out what that word means to me. To me, it means having somebody in your life that you care about so much, that a fire burns within your soul every time you look at him. You hear his voice, touch him, talk about him; anything that has to do with that person sets the flames higher. God, I sound like such a milksop, but it's the honest truth. It's when you care about somebody so completely, that you can't imagine yourself living without him, you can't stop thinking about him for even one minute of the day. The very idea of him engulfs your entire being, strangles, suffocates you. It's something so entirely... beautiful and so ugly at the same time. It's addicting. You want more hits, but then suddenly, you find yourself without him and everything falls apart. You go through withdrawals. You can't sleep, you can't eat, you can't think. You'd do anything for another fix. You'd do anything to turn back time and take back what you didn't tell him. You'd do anything to change the fact that you pushed him away, and that this whole ordeal is entirely your fault

. I'd do anything to change this. I want to tell you what I wouldn't before. I want to tell you why I pushed you away. I want you. But I want to stop seeing you and him together. .... I miss you, Harry. I can't get more honest than this. I wish I could get the courage to tell you this to your face or write you a real letter because I know you're not reading this now. Most of all, I wish I didn't have to sound like such a bloody fool while writing all of this. But I can't think of any other way to say it. Someday, I want to be with you again. I just hope that we'll be able to forgive each other for the things we've done. I don't have much else to say except... I love you.

Draco

Harry let out a breath and glanced up at his friends. They were both staring at him strangely. "Are you all right, Harry?" Ron asked. "You seemed like you weren't breathing there for a minute."

"Yes," Hermione agreed. "We have been trying to talk to you for the past ten minutes, but you were in another world."

Harry swallowed and mentally shook his head. "I... I'm sorry." He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "I think I need to be alone."

The boy hurriedly stood up and ran to his dorm, in search of his backpack. He did not know where he was going, but he needed to be alone, and why not do homework while he was at it? It would be a means of keeping his added angst away. After grabbing his bag, Harry moved quickly through the Common Room, earning some curious stares. But he did not care. He needed a quiet place to think. The Gryffindor did not realise where his feet were taking him until he reached the door. He looked up at it and hesitated. "Slyfferin," he whispered at last. The door opened quietly and Harry pushed through, closed it, threw his bag on the floor and dropped into a cushy chair. He had finally got the courage to come back to the classroom that Draco and Snape had prepared for him in sixth year. Had he been more aware of his surroundings, he would have realised that there were candles already lit around the couch. But Harry had closed his eyes and was breathing deeply. A small smile crossed his face when a familiar scent tickled his nose. It was a musky scent with a hint of vanilla and cinnamon. It was Draco's cologne. Harry would recognise it anywhere.

A light clicked on in his brain and he tensed his body, just as the other person in the room cleared his throat. Harry's green eyes snapped open and looked at Draco. The boys stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity before Harry cleared his own throat. "Oh. I... I didn't know you were in here, Dr... Malfoy," he stuttered, incredibly aware that this situation was the most awkward that he had ever been in. Of course, Draco did not know that Harry had read the parchment. He began to stand up. "I'll... I'll just leave then."

"Sit down, Potter," Draco drawled, obviously trying to keep irritation out of his voice. "Don't let me stop you from doing what you want to do." Harry sat, but only because he was surprised at the invitation to stay.

"Well, I..." Draco smirked. "Articulate tonight, aren't we?"

Harry scowled. "I just didn't want to bother you, that's all."

"How thoughtful of you, Potter. I'm touched," he replied sarcastically.

Harry decided to change the subject so that he would not get angry and take it out on Draco. He thought a little and suddenly realised that he should not feel uncomfortable as it was Draco who was being a prat. "So... are you still planning on carrying out your punishment, Malfoy?"

Draco was silent, but then he seemed to figure out about what Harry was speaking about. "You still don't even know what the punishment is, do you?" he asked superiorly.

"Sure. You're planning on killing me, right?"

Draco flinched. "Granger told you, didn't she?"

"No," Harry lied. He did not want Draco to know that he had been showing Hermione his letters. "I knew about Draco already."

"Bollocks. Granger told you about him."

"How do you figure?" Draco hesitated, and even almost smiled, but he quickly turned it into a smirk. "Because she's the one who told me about him. It's Muggle history. I don't know a thing about that. Come to think of it, I don't know a thing about wizarding history either. It's bloody boring."

Harry laughed. "Neither do I. All I know is that there were hundreds upon hundreds of goblin rebellions. What more do I need to know?" He stopped and shook his head, silently laughing. "It figures she told you that. That was probably why she was trying to keep from smiling when I was asking about it after I read your last letter to me –"

Draco paled and he stiffened in his seat. "What letter?"

"Well, the last one in that little letter war we were having. That was the one where you mentioned Draco's law."

Draco blinked, nonplussed. "Letter war… I haven't the faintest idea what you're talking about, Potter."

"How can you not remember that?" Harry asked incredulously. "We were sending letters to each other, and you kept saying how lame my come backs were."

A slow, dawning comprehension crossed Draco's face. "So that's what Granger was on about," he said slowly.

"What do you mean?"

"She kept asking me what my reply would be if somebody sent me a letter saying things like, 'here's a thought, you sod off.' You know, things like that. I never asked her what she was doing though. I thought she was completely mad. So… you were getting letters from me, which I never wrote, and I kept getting roses…" Draco trailed off thoughtfully.

"Roses?" Harry squeaked, "from who?"

"The note always said from you. It was in your handwriting."

Harry huffed, crossing his arms over his chest. "So you get something that is kind of nice, but I get letters that belittle my ego. That's real nice. If Ron and Hermione were behind all of this, they're going to be sorry."

Draco waved him off. "Don't bother with them, Potter. They're just trying to get us back together."

Draco looked down at his lap, biting his lip, and Harry took the time to stare at the blond sadly. The pair sat in silence for a few minutes. "So, I assume Hermione told you of Draco's law to get your reaction to it, did she?" Harry asked.

"I suppose she did."

Harry nodded. "Were you going to follow through?"

Draco smirked again before answering. "Now where would the fun be if I just came right out and told you? Where's the fun when there's no torture involved?"

Harry shrugged nonchalantly and turned so that he could drape his legs over the arm of the chair and laid his head on the other arm. The boys fell into silence again, and Harry fought the urge over and over again to go and curl up beside Draco. He could feel the Slytherin's stare boring into his head and his body. But he did not care. It felt good to know that Draco loved him.

As Harry began to drift to sleep, Draco spoke. "Big game next month, right?"

"Uh huh," Harry replied sleepily. "You and Weasley are the captains?"

"Yeah.... I didn't want to be."

"You didn't?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Too much on my mind."

"Like what?"

Harry sighed tiredly, on the very edges of falling asleep. "I..." He got felt lazy and did not want to speak. "…Don't know."

Draco was silent for a few minutes, letting Harry drift further into sleep. "Harry? Do you fancy Charlie Weasley?"

"No," came the mumbled reply.

"Who do you fancy?"

Harry was silent for a while, and Draco began to stand, thinking that he had fallen asleep. "I love Draco," he mumbled, "only him."

With those last words, Harry fell into a deep sleep.

Harry woke the next morning, tucked away in the large silver four-poster in nothing but his boxers, and his glasses folded neatly on the table. The room was empty, but the smell of vanilla and cinnamon was lingering on the pillow next to Harry. Harry could not help but notice that the spot was still warm, and that his skin was tingling pleasantly as if he had been held all night. Harry did not need to start his day by watching the orb. He already felt good.

**

Almost two weeks later, when Halloween was just two nights away, Harry was sitting on the couch and Draco at the table. They had been coming to the room every night, even on weekends. During the weekdays, they would busy themselves with homework, but on weekends, they would stretch out on different chairs or the couch and read quietly. Anybody observing them would have thought that they did not even know that the other was there. Harry was always second into the room; Draco would acknowledge his presence by stating 'Potter' and Harry would return it with, 'Malfoy.' Then they would sit in silence, doing whatever work they had.

Presently, Harry was struggling through his Potions homework. The class had gradually become more difficult than it had ever been before, and Harry found it increasingly difficult to finish the assigned homework to Snape's standards. Harry did consider going to Hermione but she was so busy with her own homework, Ron, and exceeding the expectations of her Head Girl duties, that Harry highly suspected that she did not leave any room for sleep. The dark-haired boy sighed with exasperation and threw his quill down. "It's bloody impossible," he muttered to himself as he thread his fingers through his hair.

"Problems, Potter?" Draco asked suddenly, making Harry jump in his seat. Draco smirked and Harry hesitated. He was not sure if he wanted to give Draco more ammunition for insults to make fun of him with. Draco sighed. "What class are you working on right now?"

"Potions," Harry finally muttered.

"The one that's due tomorrow?"

"Yeah."

"I just finished that. It was pretty difficult but..." Harry finally wrenched his gaze from his book to look up at the Slytherin during his hesitation. Draco was shifting awkwardly in his chair like he was debating whether to stand up or not. "I... could help you. I mean, if you want," he added hastily. Harry stared at him blankly. Draco swallowed and looked at his just-completed Potions essay.

"You don't mind?" Harry finally asked uncertainly.

"Actually, I do mind, Potter," Draco smirked again, his confidence coming back. "But what kind of Head Boy would I be if I neglected helping my fellow students out?"

The Slytherin stood, walked to Harry and sat to the right of him. "So, how far are you?" Harry felt a lump form rapidly in his throat. It had been some time since he had been this close to Draco. Their bodies were so close that their body heat was intermingling with each other, creating a tingling sensation on Harry's right side. "Well?" Draco asked impatiently, shooting his silver gaze into Harry's head.

Harry cleared his throat. "Not very far. I just don't get the whole concept of how the ingredients interact in the Glamour potion."

"Oh, well, that's the easiest part of the potion. All you really have to know is which order to put in the ingredients in because otherwise they won't interact correctly. For instance, if you put essence of unicorn in before thyme, you'll create a deadly poison."

"Okay..." Harry said slowly. "But what about this thing with boomslang skin? That part doesn't make sense."

Draco moved forward so that he was sitting on the edge of the couch and leaned towards Harry so that he could read the book. Harry's breath caught as Draco's thigh pressed against his knee. The Gryffindor was not able to look anywhere but at the blond beauty right next to him. The only thing on his mind was to take Draco and kiss him softly, and apologise for everything he did. Then they could lie in each other's arms and talk everything through. Draco started to speak again, bringing Harry sharply back to reality. The darker boy ripped his eyes from Draco and looked to the book. Draco was pointing his long, slender finger at the text that spoke about boomslang skin.

"See here, Har... Potter?" He stopped and seemed to be cursing himself for his slip. "They say exactly what boomslang skin is for," he continued, and then turned his head to look at Harry. "You remember learning about Glamour charms in fifth year?" Harry nodded. "Do you remember how to cast it?"

"You say, 'glamourie' and imagine what you want the person to look like. If you do it correctly, the person will look like what you imagined."

"Right. Boomslang skin takes the place of the wand. It's the active ingredient, just as the wand is for the charm. When you add the skin to the potion, you have to imagine what the drinker will look like after they consume it. If I were to make the potion and imagine Crabbe while adding the skin, and you drank it, assuming I did the potion correctly, you'd turn into Crabbe. Get it?"

They locked eyes, and they both swallowed. "I think so. But... isn't this like a different form of the polyjuice potion? I mean, boomslang skin is also in that."

Draco raised an eyebrow. "I wouldn't know. Polyjuice isn't even taught here because it's considered a Dark Art."

Harry flushed and turned from Draco's gaze. "Well, you... you know what Polyjuice does though, surely?" Harry asked, keeping his eyes riveted on the floor.

"Yes," Draco admitted after a lengthy pause. "Glamour potion is like it, only it hasn't been outlawed because it's a lot like the Glamour charm. There are differences though. I believe the Polyjuice gives you another person's voice, along with their DNA. The Glamour charm and potion don't do that. You can make and cast Glamour that will transform your voice but it's extremely difficult. You have to know exactly what that person's voice sounds like. I've never heard of anybody trying it but I can't imagine it would work very well. I'm sure the voice would end up being a slightly different pitch than the actual person's voice. You can also keep the physical form for as long as you want. You have to drink the antidote to change back, unlike the Polyjuice."

"Okay, I think I get it now. But I may have some more questions."

Draco let a small smile cross his face. "Of course. I'll go get my homework and work here then. I mean, just in case you need help again." The Slytherin looked uncertainly at Harry, but Harry nodded and also allowed himself a hesitant smile. Draco grabbed his work, returned to the couch, and started his work again next to Harry. Harry did not get much done for the remainder of the night.

**

Halloween finally came, finding Harry sitting in the Great Hall amongst his closest friends, eating, and generally having a good time. For a few moments, he remembered Halloween one year earlier. That had been the day when Ron, Seamus, and Dean had tried to beat up Harry up. It had also been one of the first times when Harry had felt that thing flutter around excitedly in his stomach when he was with Draco. As Harry thought of Draco tending to Harry's wounds on his face, his stomach fluttered again, and his gaze lifted to glance over the Slytherin table. Draco was looking steadily back, and licked his lips. Whether he did it intentionally or not was anybody's guess. Harry swallowed thickly.

"Are you feeling all right, Harry?" Seamus asked.

"What?" Harry asked, bewildered as he tore his gaze from the Slytherin. "Oh, er - yeah, I think so. I've just never noticed how noticeable Neville's presence was until now," Harry said, truly missing his classmate.

He had been thinking about the disappearance a lot for the past couple weeks. Neville's presence had always seemed to be taken for granted by everybody in Gryffindor. But now that the pleasant boy was gone, everybody seemed to notice the aura that Neville brought to their house.

Seamus, Dean, Ron, and Hermione all nodded their heads in agreement. "I miss hearing his snores at night," Dean admitted. "I never realised that I always waited to hear it before I allowed myself to go to sleep. Now, I can rarely fall asleep until nearly three in the morning. It just doesn't feel right." All the boys agreed with this. Harry did not realise that he did the same, until now that Dean mentioned it. Ever since the forgetful boy's disappearance, he had not been sleeping until hours later than he normally did. The small group of seventh years fell silent among the noisy Gryffindors and continued to eat their feast of sweets.

After Harry was finished, he excused himself from the table and hurried to the classroom to be alone. Before the feast, he had dropped off his bag with the orb inside, just in case he might want to use it. And after the short, but depressing conversation about Neville, he felt he needed something to cheer him up. The Gryffindor placed the orb in the middle of the bed and sat a few feet from it. With the whispered incantation, invisible curtains rolled over the windows, and a wind blew out the candles, immersing Harry in darkness before James and Lily Potter illuminated the room. They were standing in the bed, but did not seem to notice. Their legs were hidden beneath the mattress, letting just their torsos and head show. They smiled down at Harry and at various points in the room when they were looking at people who were supposed to be there. For the next twenty minutes Harry indulged himself with his parents' voices, touches, and smells. When they faded, he waited expectantly for the red light. The orb cracked, the red light shot out of it, hitting Harry square in the chest, pushing him back into the bed.

The dark-haired boy lay still for a few moments, enjoying the peace. But it did not last for long. "Goddammit, Potter! What the bloody hell do you think you're doing?" Harry turned his head slightly to see that Draco was standing at the edge of the bed, glaring down furiously.

"Watching my parents," he replied lazily. "They're nice, aren't they?"

"Yes, I remember that. I don't need to see it again." Draco angrily heaved the orb off of the bed and set it on the table where the Slytherin's homework lay.

"I think you're the one who shouldn't be touching it anymore. What did Dumbledore say about that red light?"

Harry sat up again just as Draco sat next to him. "I was checked over by Madam Pomfrey and she said that there was nothing wrong with me. Dumbledore is the only one who knows anything about that thing, and he says that there is no danger in letting me watch my parents."

Draco clenched his jaw angrily. "If there's nothing wrong with that orb, then how come Dumbledore won't tell you anything about it?"

"He has told me things about it!"

"Oh, really? Like what?"  Harry faltered.

"Er - that it's very valuable because it is the only one of its kind in the world, so I have to keep it safe."

"Wow. Interesting information, that," Draco drawled. " I bet you could get an entire book out of that."

"Look," Harry grit out, starting to feel annoyed. "Maybe there just isn't anything interesting about it. Maybe he's afraid I'll die of boredom if he does tell me."

"How could there not be anything interesting about it? I mean, there has to be more of a reason why you have to keep it safe. Have you ever thought of that? No," Draco scoffed. "I suppose your brain is at full capacity as it is, isn't it? It would fail from overload if it put anymore work into what you already know."

Harry let out a low animal growl in the back of his throat and pounced on Draco. Unluckily for both of them, Draco was sitting on the edge of the bed, and Harry ended up tackling Draco off of the bed. The blond let out a very undignified grunt as Harry landed on top of him. Harry immediately lifted himself so that he was holding Draco's shoulders down and brought his right knee in between Draco's thighs.

"Why do you do that?" Harry yelled in anger. "Why do you put me down all the time? I'm bloody sick of it, Draco! Just tell me what you really think of me! Tell me how you really feel about me!" he demanded.

Draco, who had had the breath knocked out of him, took a deep breath, shifting under Harry's weight. "What are you talking about, Potter?" he gasped out.   Harry faintly noticed the alarmed, almost panicked look in Draco's eyes.

Harry's face collapsed. "Stop calling me that."

Draco took a deep breath and swallowed. "It's not like I'm calling you a bloody, cheating bastard. I'm calling you by name, which I suppose I should be calling you a bloody, cheating bastard."

"_I said I was sorry_!" Harry cried out. "I know you still want to be with me, and you know damn well that I still want to be with you, you prick! I'm sorry! I never meant anything like that to happen. Damn it, Draco," Harry sighed, as he removed himself from the other boy and propped his back against the bed. He watched tiredly as Draco moved himself to lean against the wall a couple feet from him. "Just... just tell me what you wrote to me before." Draco's face had been pink from his previous activity, but now it turned as white as it had been pink.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Draco whispered.

"Don't say that. I know you do, and you knew that I would be watching that damn piece of parchment. What made you think otherwise?"

"You were supposed to have it hidden in your trunk somewhere."

"I did until a couple weeks before you wrote that. I don't know how it got into my bag, but somehow it did, and when I dropped a whole stack of parchment on the floor in the Common room, I saw it. You had written, I miss you. After that, I watched it every night."

"Then how did you know to come here after you read it?"

Harry shrugged. "I didn't. I just knew I needed to get away from the Common room and my feet just carried me here. It must have been a coincidence that you were already here. Admit it, Draco... you knew I had read it."

"I had a feeling," Draco admitted. "Especially when you asked me about Draco and if I was still planning on killing you."

Harry grinned. "Are you?"

Draco glared and kicked out his foot, hitting Harry's thigh. "Hey!" Harry exclaimed laughing.

"You're making fun of me, you arse. You have no idea what it took to actually write that damn letter. I wrote about a ton of different versions before I wrote it onto that parchment."

"I'm not making fun of you. I just... don't know what else to talk about. It seemed like relatively safe ground. If you don't want to feel like I'm making fun of you, go ahead and start up a topic of your own. Say or ask anything."

Draco looked at the floor for such a long time that Harry thought that their brief conversation was already coming to an end. But finally, "tell me, in three sentences, just so it doesn't get long, why... why you cheated on me. I mean, I think I know the reason, but I want to know."

"Three sentences?" Harry asked incredulously. Draco stared at him sternly. Harry relented. "All right, three sentences it is. Let me think of the best way to put it then.... Sentence one," Harry grinned cheekily when Draco glared at him. "Sentence one: you began pushing me away, and made me feel unwanted. Sentence two: I became unsure of myself, of your feelings for me, and I wanted to feel wanted. Sentence three," Harry paused briefly and looked away towards the door. "That's where Charlie comes in." 

"Oh," Draco replied after a short silence. "Then it is my fault."

"No!" Harry exclaimed, whipping his head to lock eyes with Draco. "I obviously did something to make you feel like the only way to fix whatever I screwed up, was to push me away. Yes, you had a part in it. Of course, you did because you were in our relationship just as much as I was. But I had the biggest part. I'm the one who allowed myself to kiss Charlie. I'm the one who cheated, not you."

"But if I would have told you, Harry. You don't understand why I pushed you away!"

"I'll give you that. I have an idea, but I'm not sure."

"What do you think it is?" Draco asked, an honest curiousity in his silver eyes.

"Well, I think it has something to do with sex, or something. You decided to keep Ron and Hermione around after we were kissing in the kitchen. I don't want to offend you or anything, but you seem almost scared."

Draco broke their gaze, and let out a humourless laugh. "Well, I suppose I should tell you that you've been right in that assumption all along." Draco looked back up with so much pain apparent in his face that Harry could feel his heart breaking. "I want to tell you, Harry. I want to so bad, but I hate thinking about it. I don't know if I could speak about it. I've never even told Severus about it."

"You have to start somewhere."

"I know."

"You don't have to start with me though, if you don't want to. You can start with Snape."

"No. I don't want him to know. It might sound crazy that I don't want him to know now, but it might make more sense once I do tell you."

"How are you so sure that it's me that you want to tell?" Draco paused. "Remember what my main topic was in that letter?"

"Love?"

"Yeah. I want it to be you because of that, Harry. I don't want to hide this from you anymore. We should be together, and it broke us up once already. I can't let it happen again."

Harry swallowed. "Draco... are you saying that you're... you're willing to give me another chance?"

"Someday. I don't know when though. It might be tonight, for all I know. That's if you don't hate me after I tell you this."

"I don't know what you could say that could do that," Harry replied honestly.

"This might," Draco whispered. There was a lengthy silence while Draco summoned the willpower to speak again. Harry hesitantly placed a hand on Draco's ankle, and rubbed circles with his thumb, attempting to comfort. "I don't know if you remember this particular aspect of the night that you were supposed to get initiated, but when Voldemort was walking around the circle, he stopped at me."

Harry nodded. "I remember."

"He had found out about our detention together when we were snogging, and I'm sure you noticed that he was angry enough about this to put the Cruciatus on me. I'm sure everybody else thought it was just because I chose you to snog during detention. I don't know what you thought, because, well, you were supposedly on Voldemort's side then. Why would he have been mad about two of his followers getting along, right? What you don't know, is that when a new person is initiated into the group, they are assigned a duty to fulfill. If you don't fulfill it, you are killed."

"You mean like when Voldemort wanted me to torture Ron and kill Sirius?"

"No. That's just to get in. I'm talking about when you're already in. I'm sure you would have been assigned something really easy, and not so traumatising since you were meant to be Voldemort's right-hand man. Anyway, most men get assigned to do something that they have to do once and then they forget about it, like raping and killing a Muggle or something."

When Draco paused, Harry marvelled at his skill to be able to talk about something like that so easily. It made him sad. "The problem was, was that I had hesitated to join. I took too long to decide what I wanted, so I was given the worse job possible. It was a job that never ended as long as I was a faithful Death Eater."

Harry felt bile rising in his throat, but he willed it down, because his worst fear had not yet been realised.… Draco just had to say it; he had not yet. "It was a job where I had to submit completely to whoever it was." The blond looked at Harry with wide, wet eyes. "I can't even tell you how many times... how many times I was… used, tortured… raped. It was sex more often than not." Draco let out a low, dry sob and covered his face with his hands, pressing the tips of his fingers into his eyes. "Oh, God, I'd rather take the Cruciatus all night than what they put me through." Draco's body shuddered, and he brought his knees to his chest, and wrapped his arms around his legs, pulling his body as tightly together as he could. The blond sat in silence for a few minutes, staring straight ahead at the bed. He began rocking back and forth slightly, but stopped when he realised what he was doing.

Draco took a breath and began speaking again. "I never knew what my assignment was until that first night. I was told to go into a bedroom and wait for somebody to come. When somebody did come, he just... started ripping my clothes off... and he..." Draco swallowed thickly and looked away. "I had thought that I was going to get a lecture on what I was to do. I thought I was going to have to do something to a Muggle. I never… never thought that…."  Harry stared in horrified silence as for the second time in his life, he saw Draco Malfoy cry. Fat tears rolled down his face and the blond made no effort to swipe them away. The tears seemed to have no end. "I never even wanted to be a Death Eater. I never wanted any of it, and I certainly never wanted _that_."

Harry began to feel his own eyes prickle. "Draco," he choked out. "You don't have to go on."

"I'll never admit being scared of anything before in my life," Draco continued as if Harry had not spoken. "But I was scared every time I was called. I knew what would happen... over and over again, every night. At first, there were a lot of them who came to me, but then there was just one. They... they were always so rough, Harry. It hurt so bad every time, no matter how many times they did it. I was always bleeding so much whenever they finally let me go.... It hurt so bad."

"Oh, god... Draco, how did you keep this a secret?"

Draco turned his bloodshot eyes to Harry. "One of the lessons that my father taught me, is my acting skills. I learned a few healing spells to stop the bleeding. And I doubt anybody could beat my cushioning charms."

"I saw the bruises," Harry whispered. "I'll kill those bastards," he said venomously. "I'll kill all of them."

"Leave it to me, Harry. You're not the one who's going to be an Auror. You're the one who's either going to be a famous Quidditch player, or something else. You're meant to live a normal life after Voldemort is gone, and out of Hogwarts. After he's gone, you won't have to fight evil anymore."

Harry furrowed his brow. Being an Auror was all he wanted to do after Hogwarts, but he decided to let it slide for now. Draco's confession was more important than a possible career. "You're going to be an Auror?" he said instead.

"Yes. I forgot that I haven't told you yet. Not like I've had the chance... but yes, I am." 

Harry smiled a little. "That's wonderful, Draco. I think you'll be great at it."

Draco's eyes were still glistening with tears. Harry moved towards him and hesitantly gathered the Slytherin into his arms. Draco exhaled slowly and pulled Harry to him as close as he could. "I still want to kill them though," Harry whispered into Draco's silky hair.

Draco's deep laugh vibrated in Harry's chest. "You'll get your chance soon enough. But that last battle is all I'm allowing you. After that, it's a quiet retirement from Dark Arts for you."

"You're telling me what I can do?" Harry asked, chuckling softly.

"Damn straight."  The boys sat in silence for a few moments, each left to their own thoughts. Harry rubbed Draco's back soothingly, and they held each other tighter. Just as Harry was about to ask Draco where they stood, a sudden jolt went through the Gryffindor's body, startling both of them.

Draco pulled back a little and looked curiously at the darker boy. "What was that all about?"

"I don't know. It happened once before a little more than a month ago. It's probably nothing."

Harry pulled the blond into his body once more and lightly traced invisible lines in Draco's hair with his nose, taking in the pleasant scent. Before he realised what he was doing, he had placed his lips at Draco's temple and kissed him softly. "Draco?"

"Hmm?"

"I don't get why Voldemort was angry with you for kissing me during detention. Why should it have mattered to him who you kissed?"

"For one, we both lied to him and said that we weren't friends. For another, he didn't want me being with anybody else outside of the inner circle."

"Oh god... Voldemort didn't... he wasn't one of them, was he?" Harry asked, dreading the answer.

Draco hesitated for a long moment and Harry felt his heart drop into his stomach. "Yes," he whispered. "Of course he was. That was the main reason he was angry. After a while, he didn't want the Death Eaters to have me anymore because he wanted me to himself. I think you would understand that I dreaded him the most. His fingers were always so cold, and he was the most brutal." Draco shivered violently and burrowed himself further into Harry's warmth.

"I don't understand," Harry said, kissing Draco's cheek. "I thought he would be a bigot concerning homosexuals like he is with Muggles."

"Are you kidding me? He was always talking about how Purebloods should be allowed to do whatever they want. If they want to take pleasure in the same sex, then so be it. He always said how beautiful Purebloods are and that I was the luckiest of the lot, because I was just _so_ beautiful. He claimed that rich Purebloods had more of a right to do the sort of things that we..." Draco choked. "That he did to me." The blond sniffed lightly and buried his forehead in Harry's neck. "Even if what he said was true, which it's not, and I was consenting to have sex with him, he wouldn't be allowed to have sex with another man. He's a filthy hypocrite. He's not even a pureblood. Did you know that? His father was a Muggle."

"Yeah. I did know that," Harry said quietly. Harry bit his lip to keep himself from saying something stupid. Nevertheless, he did say something stupid before he could stop himself. "Didn't your father know about what was happening? Wouldn't he have stopped it?"

Draco pulled back harshly and glared at Harry. "Of course he knew about it! Even if he had wanted to put a stop to it, he wouldn't have because he wouldn't have been able to! That's why I never told Severus, because he would feel guilty about not being able to do anything about it. You don't stop things that Voldemort personally orders. Hell, you don't try to stop things that Death Eaters themselves do, unless you know for a fact that Voldemort wouldn't approve of them doing it. Severus would have gotten himself killed. Lucius would never have done it because of that... too worried about his own skin. He never would have helped me anyway."

Harry noticed that Draco was trembling again. "I'm sorry, Draco. I didn't mean to make you upset again.... Come here." Harry opened his arms again as an invitation. Draco hesitated for a moment but then let himself be comforted. The Gryffindor held the other boy gently but fiercely. Draco was still trembling from the memories that were no doubt flooding his mind. They did not know how long they sat there, but when Harry next looked up, it was to see that Hermione and Ron had poked their head into the door, and had just spotted the two on the floor, holding each other. They walked in cautiously and closed the door behind them. "Ron, Hermione? How did you know I was here?" Draco tensed, but as Harry began rubbing his back again, he relaxed, but did not look at their visitors.

"We didn't know," Hermione replied, looking worriedly at Draco. "We've been looking for you two."

"Yeah, Dumbledore told us to look for you two," Ron added. "He seemed to know that you were together for some reason." Harry cracked a small smile. "What doesn't he know?"

"He doesn't know that he should tell you about that orb," Draco replied, his voice slightly muffled since his face was buried in Harry's neck.

"Shut up, you," Harry replied affectionately.

"Er - are we interrupting something?" Hermione asked uncertainly.

"No. We were just talking," Harry said quickly.

"Just talking? Then why is Malfoy all curled up with you like that? Show us your face, Malfoy. Were you crying?" Ron sneered.

Harry clenched his jaw as Hermione elbowed her boyfriend in the ribs. "Hermione, do that again for me, please," Harry grit out. Hermione only too happily complied and Harry felt Draco smile against his neck as Ron let out a second grunt. "What we were talking about and whether Draco was crying or not, is not for me to say. It is Draco's business... it's Draco's _and_ my business--"

"It's not your business, Potter!" Draco interrupted. He looked up at Harry so that he was the only one who could see his tear-stained face. "It's mine to deal with alone."

"Don't call me Potter, Draco. And yes, it is my business. If you had wanted to keep it your business and yours alone, then you damn well shouldn't have told me. Whether you like it or not, it is my business just as much as it is yours." Harry stopped, but then continued in a low voice so that his friends could not hear. "You told me and you can't take it back. I don't care if you hate it, you're mine, and you're stuck with me forever."

Draco continued to glare angrily at Harry, but slowly his face began to melt as he glared into Harry's sincere eyes. Much to Harry's delight, a small smile eventually formed on the Slytherin's lips and Draco brought a hand and placed it gently on Harry's cheek. "I belong to nobody, Harry." Harry reveled in the fact that Draco had not protested to being stuck with Harry forever, before he gently shook his head, a teasing smile on his face.

"You're mine, Draco." Draco did not reply. He mock-glared, and began to lean up. Harry's heart began beating fast, and he quickly wet his lips, already feeling the Slytherin's breath brushing on his lips. Draco pulled Harry's head down further. Their lips just managed to brush lightly together.

"Oh, come on!" Ron exclaimed loudly. "Get a room!"

Harry looked up angrily at the redhead, and found that Hermione had at least turned her back on them to give them privacy, but Ron was staring at them with a curled lip. Much to Harry's relief, Hermione elbowed Ron even harder this time. "Ron!" she admonished. "I told you to turn around to give them some privacy, but do you listen? You could be more supportive of Harry's decisions, now couldn't you? Now you went and ruined a nice moment between them!"

Draco had finally turned to Ron and was glaring daggers. "Anyway, Weasley, I was under the impression that we were already in a room, so there shouldn't be any problem with us kissing here."

"Look, I'm sorry, all right? Just let it go. Kiss, get it over with already!"

Draco scowled at Ron and much to Harry's disappointment, got up and sat on the bed. "If you don't mind my asking," Hermione asked quietly. "Did you two get back together tonight?"

Harry's mind went blank. They had certainly talked a lot, but there was more to be talked about. And he was not even sure if Draco wanted to get back together with him. The blond could have been just caught up in the moment and almost kissed Harry. Harry was not at all sure what Draco really wanted. He put his thoughts the best way he knew how to. "Er."

Draco smirked at Harry, his silver eyes shining at the Gryffindor. "No. We still have more to talk about. I just kind of got carried away there."

"Er - yeah. Well, you said that Dumbledore wanted you two to find us?" Harry asked, successfully changing the subject.

"Yeah." Hermione glanced at Ron who looked oddly sober suddenly. "Do you two know who Terry Boot is?"

"Sure," Draco replied. "He's Ravenclaw's seventh year prefect, right?"

Hermione nodded solemnly. "We've been asked to tell both of you that Terry Boot disappeared tonight... The same way that Neville did." 


	8. The Disappearances

**Warnings :** Lots of disappearing. ^_^ 

While I did not write anything graphic into the story, there is a recurring theme of nonconsensual sex. Please don't read if you're bothered by it. Also, I claim no real life knowledge to it, and have tried my best to get the reactions real and not contrived.

**A/N:** Thanks to all of you who reviewed, and also thanks to my beta reader, Padfoots_Bitch.  Check out my bio for a link to some artwork, made by Meemobunny!  ^_^

* * *

**Remember You**  
_Chapter Eight_  
~~~~~

Harry was stunned, and found that it was nearly impossible for him to get off the floor. Draco, however, stood immediately, with the persona of somebody with authority. "Did Dumbledore want us to do anything?" he asked Hermione.

"He wanted you and me to come to his office after I informed you of what happened. Security around the castle is going to become tighter and I suspect we're going to have to hold a Prefects' meeting soon to inform them of the changes."

Draco nodded and stared off towards the windows where Harry's stick figure Quidditch game still played. "How did it happen? Did somebody see it?" he asked.

"Terry was apparently going to the Ravenclaw Common Room after the feast with a couple of his friends. They had all heard a weird noise behind them, and he, being a Prefect, thought it was his duty to see if there was anything wrong. But as his friends told Dumbledore, he only took a step forward when he was immediately pushed back. Then a blue light erupted from nowhere and hit him in the chest. When the light subsided, he just... dissolved. The story matches up with Hannah Abbot's story about Neville. So, we know that it's the same thing, it's just the question of who or _what_ is doing this."

"And if Longbottom and Boot are alive," Draco added. Hermione nodded her head.

"We should go and see the Headmaster, Draco. He'll be waiting for us now."

"Yes, but if you don't mind, I'd like a word with Harry first. I'll be out in a minute." Draco turned a glare on Ron. "You, Weasley, should stay outside with Granger until I come, then you can go back to the Common Room with Harry. It's obviously not safe with groups, as we've seen, but... I think we'd all feel a little better if we're with somebody."

Ron kept his mouth shut and nodded, for once able to agree with Draco. Harry could not help the small smile that crossed his face. He quickly wiped it off. It did not seem like a good time to be happy about something, no matter how trivial. Ron grabbed Hermione's hand and they left the classroom silently. Draco watched them go, and turned to Harry only when he was sure the door was closed. "Planning to stay there on the floor all night?" he asked, amused.

"No," Harry replied. "I was just a little surprised, that's all."

Draco frowned as he stuck out a hand to help Harry to stand. Harry took it gratefully and stood, looking down at Draco. Draco looked up to meet his eyes and frowned even more. "I never realised that you were taller than I."

Harry could not help but to smile. "Well, I think I grew more this past summer. Besides, I'm not that much taller. It can't be more than two inches."

"Two inches too tall," Draco grumbled.

"Well, you can just where platform shoes, or I can hunch."

Draco looked appalled. "Platform shoes? Who do you think I am? I'm not allowing you to hunch either. I don't want you to start looking like a plebeian."

"Anyway," Harry said pointedly. "What did you want to talk to me about?"

"Oh. Well, I just wanted to make sure you'd be here tomorrow night because I still want to speak with you about a few things. Is that all right?"

"Yeah," Harry nodded. "But you know, if things around school, I mean with the disappearances keep you away, don't feel bad or anything."

"Why should _I_ feel bad if that happened? I'm the one who wants to speak with you, so you should feel bad if _you_ don't show up tomorrow."

Harry decided not to argue. He was too tired and they both had somewhere to be. "All right then. I'll be here just so I can avoid feeling bad."

"Good." Draco grinned. It made Harry's heart flutter. They fell silent and Harry felt Draco moving closer to him, but could also feel the reluctance. They both swallowed nervously, both knowing what the other wanted to do, but knowing that it might be inappropriate. Harry leaned his head down, but pulled back at the last moment, not wanting to seem aggressive, and in doing so, push Draco away again. But with the one movement, the tension only mounted and Harry could almost feel it crackling between them. Draco smiled nervously, stepping closer as he tilted his head up in invitation. Harry brought his hand up and cupped Draco's soft cheek, and lowered his head, and brushed their noses softly together. Their breath intermingled as they brought their mouths closer together, and the air between them caressed their lips, giving the sensation of touching. Harry moved his hand under Draco's chin and tilted his head up. Their lips were so close that Harry could almost taste Draco.

An "eep" sounded from the door; they stepped away from each other, though Harry's hand remained on Draco's chin. "I'm sorry, guys, but Dumbledore is really waiting for us, Draco," Hermione apologised, her head sticking through the doorway. Harry sent her a clearly frustrated look. He forgave her instantly however, when he remembered the situation that the school was in. "Sorry," she mumbled again and closed the door again. Harry let his hand drop and forced a smile.

"She's right. You should go."

Draco inhaled deeply and nodded. "Tomorrow night, then?"

"Yeah. I'll see you here."

Draco turned and walked towards the door. He was about to open it but he turned back and sent a dark glare at the orb on the table. "Don't you dare take that orb back to your dormitory. I'll know."

"There's nothing wrong with it!" Harry exclaimed. The Slytherin made a disbelieving sound in the back of his throat and left the room without another word, leaving the door open. Ron stuck his head around the corner nervously.

"Ready to go back to the Common room, Harry?"

"Yeah. I'm ready." With one longing look at the orb, Harry left with a sigh.

When they returned to the Common Room, they found it filled to near capacity. Most were doing homework, while others were being loud and raucous. Harry glanced at Ron, and in silent agreement they went up to their dormitory. Harry waved to Austin and Sierra who were sitting by themselves in the only deserted corner of the Common Room before he walked up the stairs after Ron. When they shut the door, the roar of students below turned into a soft rumble and both boys sighed. Ron sat on his bed and stared at Harry, clearly bored.

"Want to play something?" he asked.

"Sure. Exploding Snap or Chess?"

"Chess... Damn. I left mine down in the Common Room, and I don't want to go get it."

"Don't worry about it. I have mine in my trunk."

Harry knelt down in front of his trunk, unlocked it and began rummaging inside. He normally kept his chess set, Marauder's Map, and a few other things wrapped up in his Invisibility Cloak on the bottom. When Harry found his chess set, however, it was not wrapped in his Invisibility Cloak, and on closer inspection, neither was the Marauder's Map.

"Strange," Harry muttered and set the two objects on the floor beside his knees.

"What?" Ron inquired as he lounged lazily on his bed.

"They weren't wrapped in my Invisibility Cloak. I could have sworn I wrapped them in there."

"They probably just got jostled around a bit and fell out of the Cloak."

Harry did not answer as he began emptying all the contents of his trunk onto the floor in search of his father's cloak. Panic began to set in when he was down to only a few books from fourth year. He unnecessarily threw them out of the trunk and ran his hands along all the wooden sides of his now empty trunk. "It's gone!" he cried out. He jumped up and tore his bed apart, looked under his bed, and then went to the wardrobe, throwing everybody's clothes out in search of it.

"Harry!" Ron exclaimed, grabbing his hands. "Stop it! You're not going to find it if you make a mess of everything." With a wave of his wand, Ron put all the clothes back in the wardrobe and closed it. "It's got to be around here somewhere," he muttered, scanning the contents of Harry's trunk that were strewn over the floor. He raised his wand again and began putting things back into Harry's trunk, one by one. When there was nothing left, Harry levitated his trunk and Ron checked underneath it, but the cloak was not there. Harry let the trunk drop, barely missing Ron's head and dropped onto his bed in despair. "It's gone… my father's cloak. Somebody stole it."

Ron dropped down onto his bed and stared at Harry, contemplating. "It's odd, isn't it?"

"What?"

"That we find your Invisibility Cloak is missing now. How long has it been since you used it?"

"Not since last term."

Ron's eyes brightened in triumph. "That explains it then. Somebody stole your cloak and is now attacking the students."

"Don't be daft, Ron. For all we know, Seamus could be using it for… for a joy ride, or something."

"I'm completely serious. I mean... nobody has been able to see the person who attacked Neville and Terry Boot. It makes perfect sense."

"But that would mean that a Gryffindor or a teacher is doing it. I, for one, am sick at the possibility of a teacher doing it."

"Me too. Besides, I don't see any possibilities of teachers who are here now that would do it. Miraculously, we have Sirius back for Defence, and we know where he stands, and no other new teachers... so it has to be a Gryffindor."

"Yeah, but who?" Harry asked dubiously. "Nobody has ever given us enough reason to be suspicious."

Ron thought for a few moments but then shrugged, a small smile crossing his face. "That's where Hermione comes in, isn't it?"

***

Early the next morning before classes, a Prefects' meeting was held in a room beside the Great Hall. Draco and Hermione were heading it as always, looking very grave and very tired. They had been in the Headmaster's office until late into the night. Harry filed in with the rest of the Prefects and sat close to the Head Boy and Girl. Draco sent Harry a small smile and called the meeting to order.

"As you all may have already guessed," he began. "This meeting is about the recent disappearances of two of our fellow students, Neville Longbottom and Terry Boot." A few Ravenclaws sniffled as their loss was more recent and they had not had as much time to grieve. Harry looked into his lap as Hermione took over, hoping that Neville and Terry were all right.

"Draco and I were with the Headmaster and Professor McGonagall late last night, discussing ways to keep the students safe. Now, it is admitted, that we really have no clear idea what is causing these disappearances, so we have no base to formulate the best plan of action. But, curfew will be strictly enforced from now on, and the only people allowed out in the halls after six thirty will be the faculty and Prefects who are on _duty_. If you are _not_ on duty, you will be given detention and points will be deducted from your respective house. Please note that we are not to take kindly to people are out of bounds after hours."

At this point, Harry lifted his head and met Draco's eyes. He could not help but wonder how they were going to meet that night, but Draco smiled and nodded his head. Harry could not really decipher what it meant, so he turned his attention back to Hermione.

"Students are also not allowed out of the Common Rooms until after seven in the morning. That's all for the curfew. We were debating on whether certain areas of the castle should be restricted during certain parts of the day, but we decided against it since we don't know how serious this problem is. You will be able to go wherever we normally are in-between curfew. Draco?" Hermione looked at Draco, expecting him to continue.

He nodded and spoke. "Until it is deemed unsafe, Hogsmeade visits will proceed as normal. There will be one in this month on the fifteenth, third weekend of January, same weekend in March, and in May. The threat seems to be inside the castle with no reports outside, so there isn't a reason to terminate the visits. The library has new shortened hours. It will open at approximately seven thirty in the morning and close at five-thirty. It's advised to get to the library in any free time you have and check out books you need and do homework in the Common Rooms."

For the next ten minutes, Draco and Hermione covered business as usual, to which Harry found himself not paying attention. He really wanted to speak with Draco about their meeting that night. Much to his relief, the meeting quickly adjourned and the Prefects all filed out to go to breakfast. Hermione quickly excused herself and followed behind them. "Hey," Draco greeted with a tired smile. Harry stood and walked to stand in front of him. "So... how are we going to meet when we have this new curfew?" Draco smiled mischievously. "Well, it seems that Severus did a few extra charms on the room last year when I wasn't around. He placed the same kind of protection spells on it that are on the Common Rooms, so, Dumbledore said we could meet there; but if we are there after seven, we have to stay there for the night." "You told Dumbledore that?" Harry asked incredulously. "No. The old fool somehow knew that we were planning on meeting there. I don't know how he does it. I took down the portraits in that room for a reason." "_All_ of the portraits spy for him?"

"Obviously," Draco replied as if it was common knowledge. "How else do you think he knows so much? I mean he's smart, but not that smart. Everybody has their connections, and he just happens to have connections with the portraits." Draco smiled at Harry's look of realisation. "Come on, we better get to breakfast before we're late for class."

"Okay," Harry nodded. "But there was one thing that I really want to do before we go. I mean, if you'll let me."

Draco contemplated Harry with a small quirk of his eyebrow. "Are you asking my permission to kiss me, Harry?" he finally asked, amusement dancing in his eyes and voice.

Harry blushed and looked down. "Erm - I suppose I am. I just... I just don't know how you really feel about being with me again yet…. I mean, in… in the future or…. Yeah, so I just wanted to make sure... I suppose."

Draco pretended to swoon, making Harry blush more. "If only I were a girl, I could pretend you to be my chivalrous knight!"

"Shut up, you prat."

"Sir Harry Potter. Oh, what a nice ring it has, doesn't it?" Draco then fainted into Harry's arms, hand dramatically thrown over his forehead. The Slytherin peeked from one open eye and whispered conspiratorially. "This is the part where you save me from a perilous death by kissing me." He then raised his voice dramatically. "Kiss me not, and I shall die a thousand deaths!"

Harry could not help it. He laughed. "You're such an idiot sometimes," he said softly. Draco closed his one open eye, trying not to smile, and turned his face up, ready to be kissed. Harry, one never to deny a person in distress, lifted Draco up to him more, and placed a soft kiss on Draco's lips. The silver eyes fluttered open and he smiled at Harry, placing his arms around his neck.

"It's not so bad being a knight, now is it?" Draco smirked. "Only I do hope that you know you didn't just save a maiden in distress. I am a man, you realise."

"Could have fooled me, you drama queen."

"Admit it, you enjoyed the show. You better have because it's a once in a lifetime opportunity. It's not everyday that a person gets to see a show put on by Draco Malfoy."

"Okay, I admit, I enjoyed it." Harry tightened his hold around Draco's waist, while still trying not to feel like he was being aggressive and leaned down to kiss the corners of Draco's mouth. If the two had not been so preoccupied, they would have heard a small gasp, and the click of a camera. But both Harry and Draco were busy teasing each other, and stealing small kisses. They did not leave until they were both quite late for class.

Harry dragged through the day, anticipating the end when he could meet Draco again. The few kisses they had shared that morning were still tingling on Harry's lips. He had subconsciously been running his fingers over his lips in Defense Against the Dark Arts, daydreaming about Draco. Sirius had noticed during his lecture, and called Harry to his desk when he had set everybody to work. Harry grinned as he approached his godfather. "Yes, Professor?"

Sirius smiled. "Is there something on your mind, Harry? You have seemed a little out of it today."

Harry could not help the large grin that was plastered over his features. "Nothing much."

"Does this have to do with a certain Slytherin?" Sirius asked slyly while glancing sneakily around his godson at the students.

"More or less." Harry glanced behind him with a small grin and hurried around Sirius' desk and kneeled down by his chair so that Sirius had to look down at him. "We've been going to the classroom where I stayed in sixth year. We haven't really been speaking to each other, just doing our homework... But last night, he came in after I did, and he really ticked me off, and I ended up tackling him to the floor." Sirius raised an amused eyebrow, but Harry did not take notice. "We were yelling at each other, and then we just started talking and he told me everything! He told me why he pushed me away..." Harry paused, his smile fading quickly. "It's not my place to tell you what the reason was, but... Sirius, it's awful. I feel so terrible!"

"You didn't do something to him, did you?"

"No! I might have aggravated the situation a little, unintentionally of course. But I feel terrible because I didn't notice. I saw a sign, and I noted it, but I didn't make the connection."

"Harry, don't feel bad about that. It's not your fault. Some people never would have even picked up on the signs." Harry nodded and fell silent. "So... are you and Draco in the midst of working things out, or what?"

"Yeah." Harry's eyes brightened up. "We kissed this morning after the prefects' meeting."

Sirius raised an eyebrow. "I was never a prefect, but if somebody had told me that there were perks like kissing somebody, I would have paid my way in."

Harry laughed loudly, making the students look towards the front of the room. Harry looked around sheepishly, and saw that Seamus and Dean were giving him funny looks. The dark-haired boy raised an eyebrow at them. When he turned to Sirius, he was looking over Harry at the door. Harry also turned and saw the classroom door opening and closing as if by itself. Sirius stood up and reached for his wand. Harry stood as well, looking around cautiously, moving his hand discreetly to cover his own wand for protection. He felt his blood boil that this person could be the one who had stolen his Invisibility Cloak. But, if the person was not in this class with the seventh years, it meant that he or she was in a lower year. The question that nagged at Harry's mind was, who had found out about the cloak? He had never told anybody about it out of his year. "Class," Sirius began cautiously. All eyes immediately turned up. "If you'd be so kind as to pack your things up. I think I'll dismiss you early today."

The Hufflepuffs all cheered at this, but the Gryffindors, who knew Harry well, saw the apprehensive look on his face as he glanced about the room with a keen eye. "Quickly, please," Sirius urged, trying to keep his voice steady. Hermione and Ron hurriedly approached the professor and their friend.

"What's going on, Professor Black?" Hermione asked urgently.

"There's somebody in here," Sirius whispered to the three of them. "The door opened and closed by itself just a few moments ago."

Ron exchanged a meaningful look with Harry.

"We need to get everybody out one at a time," Sirius continued. "Hermione, you do it. Have a close guard on the door so that you will feel if anybody that we can't see tried to leave."

Hermione nodded curtly and moved in front of the door before Seamus and Dean got here. "Okay, everybody! Get into a single file line, and get as close as you can to the person in front of you. Make sure another person won't be able to fit between you." She then opened the door a little and stood tightly in the small opening. Seamus and Dean were the first in line, looking on with curiously puzzled looks. "Okay, Seamus, come here," Hermione commanded. Seamus moved forward awkwardly because of Dean stepping on his heels. The Irishman stopped directly in front of Hermione and raised an eyebrow.

"Now what?"

Hermione sent a glare reminiscent of McGonagall. Seamus immediately quieted. "We wait until everybody is in line." She waited for a few more moments while everybody got situated. "Now remember, don't let any spaces come between you as you move forward." Hermione backed up a few feet, Seamus following her every step. When Seamus was successfully blocking the entrance and Hermione was in the hall, she stepped to the side and opened the door more to make room for her in the doorway. The line moved slowly as each person squeezed between Hermione and the doorframe, and into the hallway. Harry and Ron looked on, as always, impressed at her quick thinking and ability to carry through effectively, while Sirius began casting charms around the room. There were only three Gryffindors left at the front of the line, with the whole Hufflepuff group at the end when it happened. Susan Bones was third from last, whispering in the ear of another Hufflepuff girl in front of her. Susan was suddenly pushed violently back into the boy behind her. It was like a domino effect. Susan effectively knocked down her two housemates with her. Harry and Sirius stepped forward in alarm as a blue light erupted from right in front of them and hit Susan in the chest.

The young Hufflepuff let out a bloodcurdling scream as she was lifted into the air, and began convulsing. Harry began to hurry forward. He did not know what he would do, but he had to help her before she disappeared.

"Harry, no!" Sirius exclaimed grabbing his shoulder. "You mustn't interfere! You don't know what'll happen to yourself if you do. Everybody keep back!" he then yelled at everybody. "There isn't anything we can do!" All students willingly complied as they continued to watch Susan's suspended body, convulsing and letting out violent screams. Her friends were now sobbing, calling out to Susan. The blue light dissipated and Susan dropped to the ground in a heap, but she still continued screaming. The girl with whom Susan had been whispering came out of her shock and leaped forward in an attempt to help the girl. But just as she reached down to grab Susan's shoulders, Susan dissolved, and the room fell into an unearthly quiet. Harry felt a jolt go through his body. The girl stared for a few moments before screaming and sobbing hysterically. Sirius rushed towards her.

"Miss Wren!" he exclaimed, gently grabbing her shoulders. Wren stopped screaming, but looked up at Sirius as violent sobs continued to wrack her body. She fell into Sirius' body, seeming to have fainted. Sirius effortlessly scooped her into his arms and looked around. He swallowed thickly. "Miss Granger, thank you for trying to evacuate them quickly and efficiently, but I think we can open the door completely now and let this creep get out of here before I bl--"

"Sirius," admonished a voice behind the doorway. Hermione moved out of the way and Remus Lupin walked in, closely followed by a very grave Albus Dumbledore. "There's no need to upset the students more. Who was it? We heard the screams in Dumbledore's office."

"Susan Bones," Sirius answered, looking down at the small girl in his arms. "Tara Wren had a bit of an emotional breakdown just now because of it."

"Anybody who would like a calming potion from Madam Pomfrey, please follow Professor Black to the infirmary," Dumbledore said loudly.

Sirius immediately walked from the room with Tara in his arms, with all the seventh year Hufflepuffs following behind him. The only Gryffindors left were Ron, Hermione, Harry, and Lavender. Parvati had just run from the room to go tell her twin what had happened. Lavender was sniffling quietly to herself when Harry set a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Are you all right, Lavender?" The blonde turned to him and sniffled again, while tears rolled down her face.

"Hey, Harry... I'll be all right, but that was just... terrible. It's not something you see everyday."

"No, it's definitely not. I hope to never have to see it again."

Lavender's bottom lip trembled and she threw her arms around Harry, hugging him fiercely. "I feel horrible, Harry!" she wailed.

Harry awkwardly patted her back. "Why?"

"I know that it's really bad what happened to Susan, but I still can't help but think that I'm glad it wasn't another Gryffindor."

"Oh. Well... I don't think you should feel bad, Lavender. Those are probably just normal thoughts. Anybody who is a part of Gryffindor is like our extended family, and when somebody else is hurt or dies in another family, people will always say how terrible it is, but they'll be thinking, 'I'm glad it didn't happen to my family.' It's a normal thing. Just as long as you don't brush it off as nothing, because you have to remember that this did happen to us with Neville." Harry caught Hermione's eyes and she was positively beaming at him. He raised an eyebrow, wondering why. Ron, he noticed, was trying to smother a smirk, since he knew it would be inappropriate. But Harry knew that Ron was just laughing at his friend for having Lavender hang on him.

Lavender leaned back and smiled up at Harry. "You're so smart, Harry. I don't get why Padma thinks you're stupid."

Harry goggled. "What? Padma Patil thinks I'm stupid? She doesn't even know me!"

"That's what I said, but Parvati agreed with her. I think Parvati only said it because she was sore at you for the Yule Ball. She's not anymore, of course, but she still says it once in a while. And Padma… well, I don't know why she says it, probably just to agree."

Ron snorted as Harry glowered. More professors began to file into the classroom, so Harry stalked out with the intent of going to dinner. Lavender caught up with him and placed her hand at the crook of his elbow. "Don't be angry, Harry. They're not very good judges of character." Harry ignored her, wishing that she would stop hanging on him. When they entered the Great Hall, it was already full, with the exception of the Hufflepuff table. The Hufflepuff sixth and seventh years were gone, and the years that remained were unusually silent, having already heard the news about Susan. Harry could feel Draco's gaze on him, but he did not dare look over at him with Lavender hanging on his arm.

"Sit here, Lavender." Harry gestured to an empty seat, where she did sit. He then pushed Hermione down beside her and left a space open for Ron. But it was not Ron who sat. Lavender moved from her seat and sat next to Harry looking a little hurt.

"Why did you do that? I wanted to sit by you."

"Oh... I didn't realise. I thought that you might like to sit by a girl since -er - we boys have really bad table manners. I didn't want to splatter food on you or anything."

Lavender grimaced but then smiled charmingly. "Oh, I'm sure you have good table manners somewhere. Perhaps you could pull them out for me?" She fluttered her eyelashes again, whether she knew about it or not, Harry did not know. Harry thought that Lavender was a pretty girl, but when she fluttered her eyelashes like that, she looked like a crooked butterfly. He forced a smile onto his face.

"Er - sure."

Lavender smiled charmingly and kissed Harry's cheek. He was so shocked that he almost fell backwards off the bench. The blonde giggled. "Lav... Lavender, what are you doing?" he asked, horrified.

"Kissing your cheek for being such a gentlemen, of course."

"Oh... Well, that's nice of you, but if you'd mind- erm - not kissing me, that'd be great. Thanks, Lavender."

"Why not?" she asked, looking as if she got the disappointment of her lifetime.

"I already told you that I'm involved with somebody." Across the table, Colin Creevey choked on his pumpkin juice. "Are you all right, Colin?" Harry asked. Colin pounded his chest with his fist and nodded.

"You said that you had broken up!" Lavender exclaimed.

"We did, but we're in the middle of working things out right now. In fact, we're to meet after dinner to talk for a little while. I'm sorry, but I'd rather not be seen getting kissed by a girl right now." Colin choked again. "Are you sure you're all right?" Harry asked concerned.

"Yes, I'm fine."

Harry slowly looked away, unconvinced and strangely unsettled. He stood up, eyeing Colin nervously. "I'm going to get a head start then..."

"But you haven't eaten, Harry!" Hermione exclaimed.

"I'm not feeling very hungry. I'm just going to go where I'm supposed to be meeting Dr... I mean, my... er - date. See you guys later. If I'm not back tonight, Ron, Hermione, you know where I am."

Harry glanced quickly at Lavender who looked scandalized, having taken his comment on not coming back incorrectly. The Gryffindor sighed and quickly left the Great Hall, glancing meaningfully at Draco on his way out. Draco gave a very small nod and continued eating. Harry immediately went to the classroom again, and sat on the couch to wait for the Slytherin.

It was a very long wait, especially when the orb was sitting on the table five feet away, taunting him, daring him to watch it again. Harry stood up to go watch it, thought of Draco and sat back down. After his fourth time doing this, he finally gave in. He stood in front of the table and clearly said the incantation for the orb to work. The dark-haired boy watched contentedly as his parents spoke to him, and hugged him. To Harry's surprise, he found himself mouthing his parents words as they said them. But then, he remembered that he had watched the orb no less than twenty times. The 'show' ended twenty minutes later, and Harry waited patiently for it to crack open and the red light to hit him in the chest. When it did begin to crack open, he closed his eyes and waited for it to come. But what did come, surprised and knocked his breath away.

A moment after Harry closed his eyes, he found himself flying through the air, and hitting the floor with a dull thud. As the Gryffindor gasped for breath, he opened his eyes to find that Draco was lying on top of him, panting for breath. "Draco!" he exclaimed angrily. "What are you doing?"

"What am _I_ doing? What the bloody hell are _you_ doing, Potter? I told you not to watch that damn thing anymore, but do you listen? No! Never! Does what I say mean anything?"

"Of course it does! I stopped myself from watching it four times, but I couldn't help it! I needed to feel better. Seeing Susan Bones disappear this afternoon wasn't fun."

Draco's face softened and he lifted himself from Harry. "Sorry for tackling you like that, but I didn't want that light to hit you again."

"Did it even come out this time?" Harry asked.

"Yeah," Draco started sheepishly. "It hit me."

"Oh, so it's okay for it to hit you, but not me? That makes a lot of sense," Harry pouted.

"Just drop it. You better not watch that thing anymore. In fact, I'm confiscating it."

"You can't do that! It was my birthday present, and Dumbledore wants me to keep it safe! You aren't taking it," Harry replied stubbornly. The darker boy stood up, painfully rubbing his ribs. "You great fat arse. That hurt." He groaned as he fell onto the couch.

"Quit whining." Draco was scowling heavily as he sat next to Harry. They sat in silence for a few minutes, Harry waiting for Draco to begin talking. "Look, Harry..." he began. "This morning... I won't lie to you and say that I haven't wanted that for a long time. Every time I see you, all I want to do is kiss you, but... I shouldn't have done that. After we got that meeting over with, I was just relieved… and then you were there, and we were alone, and… I couldn't help myself."

"I know that, Draco. You don't have to explain. I've been wondering a few things myself. I know that you know this, but, I _cheated_ on you, Draco! How can you be totally pissed at me one day, but then the next, we're fine and kissing? It doesn't make sense. What changed from two days ago and today?"

"I told you everything that I wanted to tell you before. Don't get me wrong here, I'll probably never forget what you did to me. I hate you for what you did to me, but yet I don't hate you, because I know it's largely my fault, like I said before. But I think I've done some more growing up since the end of last term. I can't hold grudges against people I don't want to hold grudges against. I don't want to hold a grudge against you, no matter how hard I wish myself to. You betrayed me in the worst way possible. But, Charlie told me a couple weeks ago, that Muggle Christians have this thing about forget and forgiving, or maybe it's the other way around...."

Harry smiled. "I think it's forgive and forget, Draco."

"Whatever. Same thing."

Harry studied Draco with a small grin. "Don't tell me you've never been to church?"

"Harry, a lot of wizards don't go to church, rarely think about it. Most wizards who do are Muggle-born wizards and witches, or maybe purebloods who have married Muggle-born. So, call me stupid for not knowing the correct way of saying it, but I don't care. Just never mind. Charlie--"

With that, something clicked in Harry's brain, and he stopped smiling, completely taken aback. "Sorry, but hold on. You've been writing back to Charlie?"

"You knew he was writing to me?"

"Ron said something back in September about how he started to but you just wrote back, saying to sod off."

Draco nodded, smiling slightly. "Yeah. That's the only time I wrote to him, actually. I always read his letters though. He writes once, sometimes twice a week, telling me a whole load of Gryffindor crap that I just let travel around in my brain for a little bit, before deciding that it is indeed crap, and weed it out. Weasel... er... Weasley could have been a good Slytherin because he relates a lot of things to how Slytherins think. He seems to know what's important to us. But anyway, he does say a lot of intelligent things... It really makes me want to be with you again... I mean, not that I haven't wanted to on my own, but well, it's just made me... never mind. This is getting to my deep down thoughts. The bottom line is, Harry, I love you. I hate what you did to me, I hate you for doing that to me, but I also wouldn't blame you for hating me for pushing you away like that. But I love you, and I want to get back together. It might take a while for us to get back to how we were before, or it might not, but I do.... Do you?"

"Of course! Why do you even have to ask?"

"I don't know," Draco smirked. "I guess for some strange reason, I was feeling a little insecure. But that would be ridiculous since I am drop dead gorgeous. Who could resist me?" Harry shook his head. "Besides, I better get my hands on you before Brown claims you." Draco smirked again, only this time it was Draco's signature evil smirk, and Harry did not like that very much. "Oh, and we might as well live up to the rumour, right?"

"Rumour? What rumour?"

"You haven't heard?" Harry shook his head, slightly apprehensive. "There's this rumour that that little rat boy Colin Creevey took a picture of us kissing this morning. According to Blaise, he still has to make his developing potion so that he can develop it. So, nearly half the school believes us to be together. Which isn't too far from the truth, I think." Draco smiled shyly.

"Aren't you worried?"

"About what? What would I have to be worried about?"

"Well, I don't know... about coming out to the world? You do know that the whole wizarding world is going to find out about this sooner or later because of me. Your face is going to be all over the front page of the Daily Prophet. People are going to judge you and say that you're not worthy enough of me because of who your father is."

"I don't mind having my face all of the papers, whether it's good or bad press. I'd say this would be good press, since I like the news. And I don't give a damn what people out there think, and neither should you. Even though you are Harry Potter, who cares?"

"I do! I hate being in the papers! I wish I could just keep something in my life private for once."

"Shut up, Harry. I'm sure you have a lot of secrets that the press doesn't know about. For instance, the press didn't find out about you giving yourself to Voldemort last term. That's something. They don't know anything that went on last year, now do they? They don't know how your relatives treated you at home. They don't know about Dudley and what kind of relationship that you had with him. Hell, Harry, they don't know jack shit about you.

"What do they know? They know you defeated Voldemort when you were one year old, that your name is Harry Potter, and are called The Boy Who Lived, you're a Parselmouth, the Tri-wizard champion, and godson to the infamous ex-convict Sirius Black. Those things are nothing, Harry. They know nothing about you that matters. All those things are just titles, names. It doesn't matter. When they find out about us, you'll be Harry Potter, Draco Malfoy's boyfriend. Or it might be the other way around. But that won't matter either, because they don't actually know what we have together. They don't know what we mean to each other. They know _nothing_ about you. It'll stay that way because they don't care about the real you. They care about the things that don't matter. Just leave the important things to Granger, Weasley, Black, and me or anybody else who you consider important to your life. You do have your own life away from the press, so don't ever say that in front of me again."

Harry smiled shakily. "See? You are good at those kind of talks, Draco."

Draco shrugged. "I guess I have it in me sometimes when it counts."

Harry smiled and took Draco's hand. "I think it's there all the time."

"You're such a sap," Draco replied, shaking his head.

"Somebody has to be, right?" Without waiting for an answer, Harry continued. "Draco... does this mean that we're back together?"

"Let's just give it a little time, Harry. Just give it a little time, and we'll be friends, and we'll see just how long we can last, all right? I just don't really want to jump too quickly into this. I'm sure you understand, though, right?"

"Of course." Harry nodded as their eyes met and held. The Gryffindor already felt his resolve failing, and the overwhelming need to kiss Draco was overpowering him. But he smiled and nodded again. "Completely. Let's be friends again, first."

***

The following week was the Gryffindor Quidditch match against Ravenclaw. Harry was a nervous wreck because Ravenclaw had a new Seeker this term, and he was extremely good. His name was Ethan Granlund, and everybody was whispering that he could be the next one to beat the famous Harry Potter. This did not bode well on Harry's nerves at all on the morning of the game.

As Harry sat at the Gryffindor table, playing with his bacon, he felt his stomach churn uncomfortably with nerves. It was still relatively early in the morning, and the hall was still only half full. Harry took a small sip of his orange juice as Draco Malfoy and Blaise Zabini entered the hall. The two Slytherins looked directly at the Gryffindor table and headed for it, looking oddly defiant of all the strange looks they were attracting.

"Morning Gryffindorks!" Draco crowed.

Half-hearted mumbles and retorts were heard from all at the Gryffindor table as Draco sat down next to Harry and Zabini beside Draco. "What are you doing?" Harry inquired, staring at the two Slytherins next to him.

"We've come to give your team our support, of course," Draco replied easily.

"More like Draco has come to give your team support. I'm only here because Draco paid me twenty galleons to sit with him," Blaise mumbled as he piled eggs onto a plate.

"It's down to fifteen now, Blaise. I asked you not to say that part. Now it sounds like I actually _want_ Gryffindor to win."

"I think you proved that point just by sitting over here, Draco," Hermione replied, smiling.

"Hiya, Harry!" Colin Creevey exclaimed as he plopped himself down on the other side of Harry. Harry jumped a little in surprise but smiled politely at the sixth year. Nothing had come of the rumours of Harry and Draco together. In fact, most of the school had already brushed it off as rubbish since Harry could not be gay because he is the Boy Who Lived, and Draco Malfoy could not possibly be gay because of his Malfoy, pureblood ideals. Actually, Harry had a sneaky suspicion that Draco sabotaged the film before it could be printed for Harry's sake.

"Hey, Colin. Are you coming to the game?"

"I sure am! I'm bringing my camera to take pictures of it. I'm building a scrapbook of this school year, and I'm selling it to people who want to buy it. I'm even thinking of starting up my own little business. I'm hoping that people might employ me to take candid shots of them and their friends so that I can build personalised scrapbooks."

"That's a great idea," Harry replied, honestly thinking that he might be interested in one.

"Yes, that would be a great money making business, Creevey," Draco drawled from beside Harry. "Do you think you could start with my friends and me? We'll negotiate the price later." Harry gave a small start when he felt Draco's hand crawling into his lap. He stared down, wide-eyed as the long fingers began to massage his crotch. Harry could not help the small squeak that came out as he felt himself react. The squeak brought Colin's attention to Harry's lap. The small Gryffindor's eyes went so wide that his eyes might have been in danger of popping out.

"What are you doing?" Harry hissed at Draco.

Draco let out a devilish laugh and removed his hand from Harry's lap. "I'm just showing Creevey the kinds of pictures he's going to have to take if he takes me for a boss."

"I'll pass, thanks," Colin said weakly.

Draco continued laughing mirthfully as Harry and Colin flushed with embarrassment. Harry was more than a little upset. Not only was Draco playing with his own feelings by touching Harry like that, he was also making Harry very uncomfortable. With just thinking of Draco's hand on him, he felt himself reacting even more. Harry shifted in his chair, scooting forward so that his lap was completely hidden by the table.

"Harry, should we get the team and go down to the changing rooms now?" Ron asked at that moment.

Harry felt himself flush even more. "Erm - no. Let's... let's give them more time to eat." Draco snickered beside him, but Harry sent him a glare. "Thanks a lot," Harry muttered so that only Draco could hear. "Now my mind isn't on Quidditch."

"Are you thinking about food?" Draco asked innocently.

"No," Harry grit out.

The Gryffindor gave Draco a look that clearly conveyed that Harry was not mad just because he was not able to stand up without anybody taking notice. "Seriously, Draco," he began quietly. "You can't do that to me, especially when you know that I want more that a quick feel from you."

Draco's smile faded, and he swallowed thickly. "Sorry," he whispered quickly. "But you know that I'm not ready?"

Harry nodded. "Yes. I know that, and that's exactly why you can't do that to me."

The two made eye contact for a few moments before Draco nodded in agreement.

"You're right, so I won't do it anymore. But you better get out to the Quidditch pitch now. The game is starting soon."

Harry quickly agreed as he was now calmed down enough and called down to the team that they should leave for the changing rooms. Draco and Zabini left before and walked ahead of the Gryffindor team, on their way to the stands so that they could watch the game. Harry watched Draco talk quietly but with great animation to Blaise Zabini. Zabini was just as animated, and Harry vaguely wondered what they were speaking about. Ron elbowed Harry in the side with a devilish gleam in his eye.

"Harry," he whispered. "Malfoy said he was supporting us, so why not give him something that will help him cheer us on?"

Harry grinned just as brightly when the meaning of Ron's words sunk in. They were currently walking down the front steps of the castle. The Creevey brothers were closely following them, one with a camera, and one with two Gryffindor flags. "Hey, Dennis," Harry called. "Can I let somebody else borrow that flag?"

"Sure thing, Harry!" Dennis exclaimed and tossed a flag to Harry.

Harry quickly said his thanks, unwrapped his scarlet and gold scarf from around his neck and ran to catch up with the two Slytherins. Sneaking up behind them, Harry quickly removed Draco's Slytherin scarf and tied the Gryffindor scarf around his neck, and wrapped his slender fingers around the pole of the flag. Harry grabbed Draco's wrist and made him wave it back and forth. "Yay! Go Gryffindor!" Harry exclaimed, doing his best, but very bad impression of Draco's voice. When the dark-haired boy let go, Draco had stopped walking and was staring, dumbstruck at the flag in his hand, clearly wondering how it had gotten there so fast.

"You don't expect me to wear this, Harry?" he exclaimed indignantly, as he turned around.

"But of course! You're cheering for Gryffindor so it's only natural for you to wear our scarf and carry our flag."

"But... but... I'm a Slytherin! You don't see Blaise wearing a Ravenclaw scarf!"

"Oh, it's just a Gryffindor thing. If you cheer for Gryffindor, you have to wear our colours."

"But they're hideous!" Draco protested, beginning to take the scarf off.

"No!" Harry exclaimed, retying his own Gryffindor scarf around Draco's neck. "If this will make you feel better, I'll wear your scarf so you don't feel quite so dumb." To prove his point, Harry wrapped Draco's scarf around his neck. All that were there, goggled at Harry, wearing Slytherin colours.

"No!" Ron wailed. "My worst nightmare has been realised!"

Harry only smiled brightly at the group around him. "Oh, please," Colin scoffed. "If you had been on my side of the table this morning at breakfast... _then_ your worst fear would have been realised."

Harry made eye contact with Draco. They both could not help it. They burst out laughing. Zabini laughed along with them, who had also seen the little display put on by Draco. When they finally all stopped, Zabini replied, "it's nothing bad, Creevey. They were just having a bit of fun."

"Yeah, no ki--" Draco stopped in his comment when Zabini was suddenly pushed back by so much force that he was thrown onto his back, hitting his head on the ground. "Blaise!" he exclaimed and rushed forward as Zabini moaned in pain. Harry froze in fear. Zabini had not been pushed by anybody. It had been an invisible force, just as it had happened to Susan Bones a mere week ago. As if in slow motion, Harry looked down at Draco, leaning over his friend. The Gryffindor got his legs in motion and ran for the two.

"Draco!" he cried out. "Get away from him! There isn't anything you can do!"

Draco looked up at Harry as he was helping his fellow Slytherin to stand. "What are you on about? He just fell back." The Slytherins walked a couple steps closer to Harry and the castle.

Just then, the blue light formed between them. Quick as lightning, Harry leapt forward, tackling Draco to the ground, away from Zabini. The light hit Zabini in the chest, and levitated him into the air. He cried out in excruciating pain as the light consumed him. "Get off me, Harry!" Draco yelled out. "We have to help him!"

"There isn't anything we can do, Draco! We can't risk losing more people."

Even as Harry said it, Dennis Creevey, Lavender Brown and Derek, the new chaser, were pushed violently to the ground. "No," Harry whispered. The light on Zabini dissipated, and the Slytherin fell to the ground panting. By this time, Draco was too stunned to do anything but stare at the chaos around him. Zabini was still screaming his pain as three more bright blue lights shot out of nowhere, hitting Dennis, Lavender and Derek in quick succession. As Zabini dissolved, Harry felt a jolt go through his body, and the three Gryffindors were all levitated into the air, they began twisting in ways that the human body should never be twisted. The area was filled with their shrieks of pain and cries for help. Harry noticed all the professors running out of the castle towards them, looking panic stricken. The rest of the school were all trying to squeeze through the doors at once, trying to see what was happening. Hermione, Ron, and Ginny crowded around Harry and Draco, staring at the horror in wonder.

Tiny Professor Flitwick squeezed through the towering professors around him and began circling the pain-filled students. Dumbledore nodded at him, so Flitwick raised his wand towards the students, but before he could get anything out, he too was thrown onto his back, just as the Gryffindors were dropped to the ground. Hermione whimpered beside Harry as tears cascaded down her cheeks. The same process was repeated for the professor, and he was lifted into the air by the blue light as well. Dumbledore cast sonorus on himself, and said, "Everybody keep still, lest you become victims as well." Everybody who could see what was happening obeyed, not wishing this misfortune to befall them. Harry wished that plugging his ears would block out all the terrible screaming coming from his professor, but he knew it would not. The only thing he could do was tear his eyes away from the terrible image. Only when the screaming stopped, and no less than four electrical jolts went through his body, did Harry know that it was over.

Sonorus charm still in place, Dumbledore stated, "All Quidditch games will be cancelled until further notice. Please return to your dormitories as quickly as possible."

Harry and Ron wrapped an arm around Hermione at the same time and they pulled close together. Harry then wrapped an arm around Draco as well, who wrapped an arm around Ginny. The small group huddled together in a semi-circle, silent as the rest of the school began to return to the relative safety of Hogwarts. Parvati Patil came towards them, and Ginny immediately broke away from their small group and accompanied the distressed girl back to the Gryffindor dormitory. Harry turned towards Ron and Hermione and gave them a small smile.

"I'm glad you two are okay."

"You two, mate," Ron replied over Hermione's head, which was pillowed on Ron's chest. Harry offered what was possibly the most fake smile he had ever offered anybody before, then broke away and turned to Draco who was looking at the place where Blaise had once been. Harry wrapped both arms around Draco's waist and pulled him near.

"I'm especially glad you're still here. But I'm sorry about Blaise."

"Yeah, and I…." Draco stopped and shook his head, no able to continue.

Harry nodded and slowly reached his hand up to caress the blond's face. "Merlin... that light was so close to hitting both of you. I don't want to lose you."

Draco returned the gentle caress to Harry's cheek, but did not say anything. "Is a week being friends long enough?" Harry asked quietly.

Draco looked torn for a long moment, but as his gaze settled on the spot that his friend had disappeared from minutes earlier, his face hardened. "It's been too long. We should have declared me insane right when I suggested being friends."

Harry offered a sad smile. Without a care for who was watching, Harry leaned down and captured the Slytherin's lips with his. The darker boy ran his tongue gently along Draco's bottom lip and slid it over Draco's when the blond let his mouth fall open. Neither one rushed it, for they were just happy to have each other again, especially after the events of a few minutes ago. As the two boys entwined themselves more firmly around each other, tenderly caressing backs, faces, arms, and hair, Colin Creevey, hands shaking in grief and fear, raised his camera and took a picture.

* * *

I didn't put a teaser last time because I thought it would give too much away. But, I decided to put on in now. ^_^

_Lily and James sat on either side of Harry and looked at him seriously. "We wanted to talk to you about that orb, Harry," James began. "Your mother and I don't think you should use it anymore. We think it might be dangerous. Besides, you can always see us anytime. There should be no reason that you need to watch us in that orb. We recorded that when we thought the worst was going to happen."_

_"But I like the orb. Why do I have to get rid of it?"_

_"Just do it, Harry. We don't want you to get hurt more than you already have in your life. We're only trying to protect you," Lily pleaded._

_"Listen to them, Harry," Draco added. "I don't trust the thing either."_

_"But Dumbledore wanted me to keep good care of it."_

_"We'll keep it for you," James offered. "We're family so you know that you can trust us, Harry. Besides, your mother and I already have experience in keeping it."_

_Lily looked at her husband skeptically. "It might not be so safe with us either. We might want to send it to the original owner. I know he'll keep good care of it for us and Dumbledore. What do you say, Harry?"_


	9. The Orb

**A/N:** There were a few questions that I thought I should clear up, so they're at the bottom of the chapter. Thanks go to my beta, Padfoots_Bitch, as well to all the reviewers, and everybody else who has stuck with this fic.

* * *

**Remember You**  
_Chapter Nine_  
~~~~~

After the mass attack on the students and one teacher, the news was leaked to the public that people were disappearing from Hogwarts. Reporters from the _Daily Prophet_ were coming to the front doors daily, trying to get a word with Professor Dumbledore, but he refused to say anything. The board of governors had also been brought into the mess: a week after the group attack they voted against shutting the school down. This was because five people in Diagon Alley had disappeared in the same way as at Hogwarts.

The first snow of winter was dressing the ground one morning in early December when Harry leisurely walked down the many flights of stairs to the Great Hall. Ron and Hermione had run ahead of him, and Harry was to meet Draco in the entrance hall. When Harry got to the top of the marble staircase, Draco was already waiting for him. The Slytherin was looking towards the front doors suspiciously, so he did not notice Harry. Harry quickly glanced around him before he approached Draco and wrapped his arms around the blond from behind. He gave him a kiss on the cheek, pulled back and nuzzled his nose gently under Draco's ear.

  "Morning. What are you glaring at over there?"

"I just saw Creevey go outside to talk to a reporter who is waiting to speak with Dumbledore."

Harry rested his chin on the other boy's shoulder and looked to where Draco was looking. "So? He probably wants to be a photographer for the Daily Prophet when he leaves Hogwarts. Maybe he's just asking the reporter questions. Why are you so worried?"

  "Because I heard the reporter ask about you, and Creevey said that he has a couple new pictures of you."

Harry shrugged casually as he stepped away from Draco reluctantly, knowing that he could no longer embrace the Slytherin, in fear that they would be seen. "He's always taking pictures of me. I'm not surprised."

"Aren't you concerned that the Prophet is doing an article on you?"

"It happens. I hate it, but there's nothing that I can do about it." Draco still looked oddly perplexed, but Harry did not think that Draco was bothered about another article about Harry. "Is there something else bothering you?"

"Yes. My letters from your cousin Dudley are missing. I just read them a couple days ago and I clearly remember putting them away again in my box that I keep locked... but they're gone."

"That's odd. Maybe you misplaced them."

"No, I know that I didn't."

"Did you search your room?"

  "Of course I did! I'm not stupid!"

  "I didn't say you were. And I'm still a little miffed that you didn't tell me about you writing to Dudley last term."

Draco shrugged. "I didn't think it was a big deal. Besides, it was after you broke up with me. We only sent each other a couple letters." Draco paused. "Nice bloke for a Muggle."

  Harry smiled. "Muggles can be just as nice as wizards. What kind of things did Dudley write to you? Anything incriminating against you?"

"He wrote a lot of things. He did write a little about how he hoped that our relationship could work out in the future. I don't think any of it is incriminating."

  "Well, I don't think you have anything to worry about."

"Harry!" called a voice.

Harry turned his head from Draco, and saw Colin peaking his head through the door. "What?"

  "Come here for a minute."

"Don't do it, Harry," Draco warned. "There's probably a whole group of reporters out there, ready to eat you alive."

"I'll survive."

"Since when have you become suicidal?"

"It's not a big deal. Besides, it'll be better to just say something to them and get it over with. I'm sick of them trying to talk to Dumbledore and me. Go and eat breakfast, I'll catch you up."

  Harry turned to go outside, but Draco pulled him back. "You don't have your cloak, or your scarf! Are you mad? It's below zero out there!"

"Well, I'll only be out there for a few minutes. I don't have any classes outside today so I didn't bring them."

  "Well, I have to go out to the Herbology greenhouses, so you'll have to borrow my cloak right now. I'm not letting you go out there with no protection."

Draco whipped his cloak from around his shoulders and wrapped it around Harry's body. Harry grinned like a fool. "You're going to drive your kids crazy someday, you know that?"

  Draco smiled as he went into his bag and pulled out his Slytherin scarf. "You have to wear this as well. If they take pictures of you, I want them to show that you're a Slytherin, not a Gryffindor."

"But I'm not a Slytherin, Draco," Harry pouted as the blond wrapped the scarf around his neck.

  "You are to me."

  Harry grinned even harder as he looked quickly around them. When he saw that Colin had gone back outside, he pulled Draco to him and kissed him hungrily. When they pulled back, Harry's green eyes were sparkling mischievously. "And you're a Hufflepuff to me."

Harry turned around and ran away before Draco could do any bodily damage to him. "I'll get you for that, Potter!" Draco yelled as Harry hurried outside.

  Sure enough, as soon as he stepped outside, two flashes went off. When the Gryffindor blinked away the spots, he saw a reporter and Colin holding their cameras. "Erm- what's going on?"

The reporter - a woman with long auburn hair and brown eyes approached Harry and shook his hand. "I'm Ayn Canfield, reporter for the Daily Prophet and Witch Weekly. It's nice to meet you, Mr. Potter."

"Oh, you can call me Harry. And it's nice to meet you as well, Miss--"

"Just call me, Ayn. I'm sorry if I'm interrupting anything, but I'm currently doing a story on you, and your friend, Colin, here was nice enough to get you out here so that I could have a few words. Is that all right?"

Harry felt a bubble of doubt form in his chest, but he pushed it down. "Erm - I suppose that would be all right... Just as long as you don't have a Quick-Quotes Quill with you."

The reporter let out a shrill laugh that made Harry cringe. "Of course not, Harry. I like to give accurate reports. You have no need to worry. Now, I know you have class this morning, so I'll make this as quick as possible. First, would you like to comment on the latest here at Hogwarts? I mean with these mysterious disappearances?"

  Harry glanced quickly at Colin whose face had gone ashen. "Well, I think I'd like to keep this conversation short for Colin's sake. But, I think it's really horrible that this is happening to people. I saw two of the incidents first hand, and I can only hope that these acts are put to a stop straight away."

"Do you believe that these people are alive?"

"Yes. I've never heard of anybody dying just because they disappeared. I think it's more likely that they were transported somewhere... We just have to figure out where that is."

  "You say that you were present for two of the incidents... can you tell me, Harry, if you were involved with the disappearances in any way?"

Harry's lips parted and a small breath puffed from his lips. "I'm sorry... what?"

  "Can you tell me if you were involved in the disappearances of the students and Professor Flitwick?"

"Well..." Harry stuttered over his words. "Well, of... of course I didn't have anything to do with them! Where in the world did you get the idea that I would put people in that much pain?"

The reporter ignored Harry. "Is it true that this is a plan thought up by You Know Who, and that you are the one carrying it out as his right hand man?"

  Harry shook his head in disbelief. "I have nothing to do with Voldemort, and I never will, except to kill him."

  "There have been rumours about where your loyalties lie. Does your recent decline into Dark practices have to do with the recent imprisonment of your ex-convict godfather, Sirius Black?"

"Sirius was imprisoned because he was under the Imperius. He has never done anything wrong. He did do some terrible things to me while under the Imperius, but he didn't mean any of it, and I do not practice Dark magic."

"Can you tell me why you are wearing a Slytherin cloak and scarf? Does this have to do with the fact that you're being corrupted by You Know Who, or that you are currently involved with Draco Malfoy - whose father is a known Death Eater?"

  "I am not being corrupted by Voldemort. You don't have to bring Draco's father into this. Yes, Lucius is a Death Eater, but that doesn't say anything about Draco. And yes, Draco lent me the cloak and scarf just now so that I wouldn't get cold talking to you out here."

  "And is it true that you're in a serious relationship with Mr. Malfoy?"

  "What is this?" asked an angry voice behind Harry.

  All three people jumped and turned to see Sirius and Remus standing in the doorway, both looking extremely angry. Ayn immediately jumped on them. "Mr. Black, Mr. Lupin, I was wondering if I could get a few words from you about Harry." Behind them, the camera flashed.

Sirius gently grabbed Harry and pulled him between the two men so that he was shielded. He smiled winningly at the reporter. "Harry is a fine young man with a lot of potential. I have no doubt that once he leaves Hogwarts, he will be very successful in whatever he chooses to do."

"Even if he has joined ranks with the Dark Lord, Mr. Black? What then? Will he be successful then?" she pressed.

"Harry has not joined ranks with him, nor will he ever," Remus replied tightly. "Now, if you'll excuse us. Harry needs to eat his breakfast, and get to class. Please leave the premises before the Headmaster sees you here."

"Mr. Creevey," Sirius started. "Please come inside the castle."

  "Yes, Professor Black," Colin replied and hurried past the three other men.

"Good day, miss," Remus said politely before Sirius led Harry into the castle, and closed the door.

  "Harry," Sirius sighed. "What were you thinking?"

  "I didn't think it'd be a bad idea to answer a few questions."

"Yes, but I heard those last few questions she was asking you. She was making it sound like you're a Death Eater."

"Well, I told her that I didn't have anything to do with Voldemort."

Remus and Sirius exchanged a look but did not say anything else. This worried Harry more than any words could have.

***

It was two days later, and Harry and Draco were in their classroom, lounging on the couch. It was a Sunday, so they were enjoying the last couple free hours before they had to do homework. Harry was lying on his back with his head in Draco's lap. Draco had his feet propped up on the edge of the coffee table, so that Harry's head was cradled in-between his thigh and stomach. Harry was currently tickling Draco underneath his chin, trying to get him to stop reading.

  "Draaaco!" he mock-whined. "I want attention!"

Draco looked down at him and smiled. "Even I can tell you're spending too much time with me with that command."

"Well, I'm bored. I like looking at you, but even that can get boring."

Draco mock-pouted. "I'm gorgeous. How could I get boring to look at?"

"It's boring because I want to touch you... Kiss me." Harry puckered his lips as far as they would stick out and squeezed his eyes shut.

"Yeah, because _that's_ attractive," Draco scoffed sarcastically.

Harry kept his eyes shut and his lips puckered, but after a few moments, he heard a page of Draco's book turn. Only then, did he open his eyes. "Draco," he said, honestly disappointed.

The Slytherin looked down at him and smiled. What happened next was so fast that Harry was not sure exactly what took place. Draco threw his book onto the floor, got out from under Harry and straddled him, where he took the Gryffindor in a bruising kiss. Harry immediately moaned, arching up into his boyfriend's body. Draco pulled his body away from the contact, but kept kissing Harry. What started out as a harsh kiss began to get more gentle, exploring, and passionate. When they finally slowly pulled away, both of their eyes were shining with emotion. Harry wove his fingers through Draco's silky hair and sighed. He felt particularly sappy after the breath-taking kiss they just shared.

"God, you're amazing," he breathed.

Draco smirked. "But of course."

A sudden knock on the door interrupted Draco from moving to kiss Harry's neck. He sat up and swore. As the Slytherin got up to answer the door, Harry sat up on the couch and tried to smooth himself out.

"Oh... hey, Austin, Sierra," Draco greeted their visitors. "It seems like I haven't seen you two around in a while."

"We've been around, haven't we Harry?" Sierra asked.

"Yes, I see you in the common room all the time," Harry smiled. "Come on in, and have a seat. What's going on?"

"Mum and dad are here," Austin replied as he slouched into a chair. "They want to talk to you." Draco stuck his head into the hallway as footsteps sounded down the corridor. The Slytherin's face lit up and he stepped back, holding the door open.

"Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Potter!" he exclaimed. "How are you?"

"We're doing wonderfully, Draco," Lily Potter replied. "Thank you for asking."

James looked suspiciously at Draco as he walked in. "You sure do seem chipper today, Draco," he commented. "Why is that?"

Draco shut the door. "Oh, it's probably because Harry and I were just snogging."

"Oh, Merlin," Harry muttered under his breath and sunk down into his chair.

"Eew!" Sierra squealed. Nobody paid her any attention.

Lily and James sat on either side of Harry and looked at him seriously. "We wanted to talk to you about that orb, Harry," James began. "Your mother and I don't think you should use it anymore. We think it might be dangerous. Besides, you can always see us anytime. There should be no reason that you need to watch us in that orb. We recorded that when we thought the worst was going to happen."

"But I like the orb. Why do I have to get rid of it?"

"Just do it, Harry. We don't want you to get hurt more than you already have in your life. We're only trying to protect you," Lily pleaded.

"Listen to them, Harry," Draco added. "I don't trust that thing either."

"But Dumbledore wanted me to keep good care of it."

"We'll keep it for you," James offered. "We're family so you know that you can trust us, Harry. Besides, your mother and I already have experience in keeping it."

  Lily looked at her husband sceptically. "It might not be so safe with us either. We might want to send it to the original owner. I know he'll keep good care of it for Dumbledore and us. What do you say, Harry?"

Harry hung his head, feeling despair setting in at the prospect of losing his parents... But that was ridiculous since they were sitting on either side of him. Finally deciding that it would be for the best, Harry nodded. "But you two can send it for me. It's in my dormitory."

"Sure thing," James said. "Now that that is settled, we can go home, Lily. It's been a particularly long day. I'm sure you can understand, Harry." Harry nodded glumly.

"All right. We'll talk to you later, Harry." Lily kissed him on the cheek as James kissed the top of his head. When they stood up to leave, both Austin and Sierra stood as well. They both looked a little disappointed about something.

"We were kind of hoping that you were getting in trouble for something. That's why we were here," Austin explained.

Harry mock scowled. "Get out! Right now!" He pushed his brother and sister out of the door before anything more was said. When he effectively locked the younger Gryffindors out, he leaned against the door and sighed dramatically. "Sometimes I wish I was the only child."

Draco smiled, but it was with an odd quality to it, like he was confused about something. He slowly sat down in the chair that Sierra had just vacated. "That's the thing, Harry..." he said just as slowly as he had sat down. "_Aren't_ you the only child your parents ever had?"

"No... You just saw my little brother and sister. Why would you ask me that?"

Draco looked at Harry with a furrowed brow. "I don't know... There's something wrong though... something out of place, but I can't figure out what."

  Harry laughed and threw himself onto the couch. "You're losing it, Draco. There isn't anything wrong."

Draco only furrowed his brow more as he turned to look out the window. "No... There is something definitely wrong here," he whispered to himself.

***

  Sirius gathered the stack of fourth-year essays into his arms and hurried out of his office. He juggled the contents in his arms around a little, trying to gain a better grip on his wand so that he could lock the door. As he was trying to do this, footsteps approached him from behind, but he did not turn to look. The person, who was approaching, muttered a few words. Sirius felt a large jolt travel through his body like he had fallen out of bed, and he dropped all his essays, and wand. He cursed softly, looking around suspiciously for any students, and then, bending to pick up the wand. He cast a few locking charms on the door, and magicked the papers back in to his arms, before remembering that he had forgotten the fifth years' homework that Remus was going to correct for him. Sirius heard a person step up behind him, and felt a hand lay on his shoulder.

  "Remus, I'll meet you in my chambers," he said exasperated before he muttered an unlocking charm.

"Take a deep breath and calm down, Paddy," said an amused voice.

  Sirius froze while putting his wand in his pocket, and stared at his oak door. That voice... it was so familiar. "I'm... calm," he replied as he turned around. Sirius was so shocked by who he saw that he had absolutely no reaction, no widening of the eyes, no step backwards, no gasp of shock, no exclamation, no cursing... nothing. Sirius just stared. After a few moments of silence, James Potter grinned.

"What's wrong, Paddy? Cat got your tongue? Oh, I'm sorry; it must be the werewolf has your tongue?" James grinned more.

It was then that Sirius realised that he had forgotten to breathe. He let out a long breath. "I... I... What?"

"Well, you and Moony are together, right?"

"Erm -"

"Of course you are! Harry was telling Lily and me how Remus got you Skittles."

Sirius was now in information and emotional overload. He had so many thoughts, accusations, and questions running through his head that he could not form a coherent thought. "Harry?" he asked dimly.

"Yeah, Lily and I were just talking about that orb that he got for his birthday. We don't want him to keep it anymore because we think it might be dangerous, so we're sending it to the maker. Lily is in the owlery right now."

"Lily... The orb?"

"Is there something wrong, Sirius? I ran into Snape a few minutes ago and he was acting the same way. I wasn't too concerned then since it's only Snape, but it's kind of starting to worry me now though. I can bring you to Madam Pomfrey if you like."

  Sirius managed to shake his head as he tried to catch his brain up on what was happening to him. "All right, then. I'll see you some other time then, yeah? Lily and I were going to go home. Say hello to Remus for me."

  James clapped Sirius on the shoulder, and walked down the corridor and disappeared around the corner. Sirius let his stack of essays flutter to the ground once again, as he stared at the wall ahead of him. "James?" he finally asked the wall, not realising that James had already left. When he realised this, Sirius decided that he had finally gone insane because James and Lily Potter are dead. But even with this sudden realisation, the dark haired man still did not move. He still had not moved when Remus found him, standing in the middle of the hall, staring at the wall ahead of him.

Remus magicked the papers into his hands, shrunk them, and put them in his pocket. After doing this, he took Sirius' arm. "Come on, Sirius. Let's go."

Sirius nodded his head numbly. "Right. We don't need to be here anymore because James and Lily just left to go home. We can go rest now.... We can rest. Rest is a good thing. It's been a long day, Remus. A long day.... Did you know that James came to see me today? He called me Paddy. Did you know that he always calls me Paddy?"

"Sirius... shh. I know. I remember that." Sirius quieted with Remus' words, but it did not alleviate Remus' worry.

***

The next morning was Monday, and Harry was running late. By the time he arrived in the Great Hall for breakfast, the post had come and almost everybody was leaning over a newspaper. As he made his way to the Gryffindor table, somebody yelled out from the Ravenclaw table. "Harry Potter is a faggot! Don't turn your back on him, men!"

Harry stopped in his tracks and looked over at their table as people around the hall began laughing. There were a couple people at the Ravenclaw table, Harry saw, that were yelling at the person who had just insulted him.

"You better watch out for me too, then," drawled a voice right next to the Gryffindor, making him jump. Harry turned and saw Draco standing beside him, glaring at anybody who dared to laugh. Most withered under his stare. Draco turned to Harry and his silver eyes immediately softened. Kiana, who had insisted on wrapping herself around Harry's arm to keep warm against the December cold that morning, hissed in protest when Draco accidentally slid his hand over her, and up Harry's arm. But they both ignored her. "Good morning, my own little Gryffindork."

Harry laughed a little before Draco let his lips descend upon his. Faintly, both boys heard a few girls sigh, heard even more boys and girls snort in disgust, and even some others that were clapping for them. When they pulled away, Harry was blushing crimson, and he would not look anybody in the eye but Draco. "How did they know that I'm gay?" he wondered aloud.

"Granger has a newspaper. She'll show you the article in there," Draco replied grimly. "Harry, please don't get too upset by what is written in there. Just remember what I said, all right?"

Harry did not reply. He hurried over to his friends and sat down, stealing the paper from Hermione's hands. She did not protest, as she knew that he had a right to see what was written about him. As he began reading, Draco sat beside him.

On the front page was a large picture of Harry sitting on the couch in front of the fire in the Gryffindor Common room, smiling shyly into the camera. Harry in the picture blushed before ducking out for a few moments and then coming back into view. Large block letters were blazing across the page, and Harry cringed.

_Harry Potter, Revealed_

Harry skimmed over the first part of the article as it retold his story, and just why he was famous. Shaking his head, he continued on to where the reporter spoke about the third task. _There are many places where I could start off in the boy's tale; but today, I will start with the third task of the Tri-Wizard Tournament. The task began with no complications. The late Cedric Diggory and Harry Potter were tied for first, and in so being, began the maze at the same time. Nobody knows exactly what happened in the maze, but soon, the competing school's champions were eliminated. It was not too long after, that the two Hogwarts students took the Tri-Wizard Cup together and were transported off the school grounds. Details here are even more sketchy than the maze, but from what has been released to the press in the past, is that Diggory died after being hit with the Killing Curse by none other than Peter Pettigrew._

  It was then that You Know Who was said to have risen again, and Harry Potter made a narrow escape back to Hogwarts. One must ask, how did a fourteen year old boy escape the wrath of a fully-trained wizard whom nobody has once before beaten in a duel? If I may comment, if James Potter were alive, he would agree with me. This raises some interesting questions. What sort of words was exchanged? What were the events of that meeting of You Know Who and his followers? What was Harry Potter's place in this meeting? Did Harry strike a deal with the Dark Lord for his life? Was this event the point in which our young hero was corrupted?

From here, our tale moves on to Mr. Potter's sixth year at Hogwarts. This is the point in which things get interesting. After acquiring a contact within Hogwarts, it has come to my attention that the Boy Who Lived joined alliances with He Who Must Not Be Named.

Where is my proof? Right here, written in the hand of Draco Malfoy in a letter.

  Harry turned to Draco. "Are these the letters you wrote to Dudley?"

  Draco nodded his head stiffly. "I still don't know who took them. They didn't publish the ones I received from Dudley... but, well, you'll see." Harry furrowed his brow and turned back to the article. The next part had clearly been directly copied from Draco's letter to Dudley. Harry recognised the handwriting as his boyfriend's.

_Thanks for your last letter, Dudley. To answer your first question, no, Harry is not doing so well. He actually broke up with me the other night. I have been suspecting that something has been seriously wrong, but now I am sure of it. He disappeared for the entire night, so I waited for him in our classroom. When he finally came back, he was not acting like himself. I believe he may have gone to--_ The neat handwriting was then cut off by the normal print of the Daily Prophet._ [Edited to You Know Who], to tell you the truth._ Harry scoffed._ I'm not so sure what he was thinking, or if he is even thinking for himself anymore. If Harry and I ever get back together, I may not be the only one marked as Voldemort's servant. I'll be blunt. I'm scared for him._

Harry smiled affectionately at Draco, and grabbed his hand before continuing with his reading. _Not only does this letter prove that Harry offered himself to You Know Who, but it also raises another interesting story. Harry Potter's relationship with Draco Malfoy._  The page ended there, so he turned the page and drew in a sharp breath. On the top of the page was an enlarged picture of Draco and himself, kissing. It was directly after the mass attack on students and Professor Flitwick had taken place, and they had made up. Harry in the picture encircled Draco with his arms, they shared a few words and then kissed with so much desperation that Harry felt his breath catch. Draco leaned into Harry's side and stared at the picture.

  "Nice, isn't it? I wish Creevey would have given it to us, and not the Prophet, but... it's nice - kind of hot actually. Look," Draco pointed to a smaller picture towards the bottom of the page. "I like that one too, though I kind of look like a girl when I'm swooning."

"I told you so," Harry smiled, as he looked at the picture. It was the picture that had started a rumour of their relationship. They were in the Prefects' meeting room. Draco was leaning heavily on Harry, blinking prettily up at him, while Harry smiled and laughed, before leaning down and kissing Draco chastely.

Draco sighed and pulled away, finally starting on his breakfast. "I'll kill Creevey," he said calmly, buttering a piece of toast.

"No, you won't," Harry replied, staring dreamily at the bigger picture of Draco and himself.

  "Shut up and read while I plot most devious plans with which to hurt him," Draco smirked, and bit into his toast.

Harry sighed, and did as he was told. _By orders from his Death Eater father, Draco Malfoy forged a friendship with Mr. Potter. What started out as friendship, soon turned into much more. It seems that Mr. Malfoy has corrupted the mind of Harry Potter in more than one way. Not only did he succeed in sending Mr. Potter to the Dark side, but he has also-_ Harry scowled through the rest of the article, not taking time to actually read through what it said. The reporter had played off of Draco swooning in the picture, except made it seem like Harry was the damsel.

Harry set the paper down with a shaky laugh. "Well, that was something.... She made my life out to be like some sort of fairy tale." The Gryffindor turned to Draco, and spoke in falsetto. "Oh, won't you be my prince and save me from the darkness in my soul? Save me before it's too late, Draco."

"Ah, that might be a problem, Harry," Draco replied with a small shake of his head. "You see, my schedule is full, and I'm afraid I won't be able to get you in for at least four months. Besides, according to Ayn Canfield, you need to be saved _from_ me, not _by_ me. I might corrupt their tragic hero."

Harry's eyes twinkled mischievously. "What if I _want_ to be corrupted by you?"

Draco raised a surprised eyebrow. "Well.... then I'm happy to say that a slot in my schedule just opened up for..." He checked his watch. "Right about now."

Without caring that the majority of the people in the Great Hall were listening to and watching them, Harry leaned forward and placed a kiss on his boyfriend's lips. Some people hissed at them, but that was not the reason they broke apart. A loud screech filled the hall and all eyes turned towards the cloudy ceiling. A large, menacing, black bird with a massive wingspan was slowly spiralling down to the students. Harry felt a large lump in his throat as the beady yellow eyes locked on him and landed right in front of him. The Gryffindor looked to his friends and Draco with wide, terrified eyes. If this bird was sent by who he thought it was, then it would not look good to be receiving mail from him after the article. The intimidating bird screeched loudly again and impatiently held out his foot.

With shaky hands, Harry removed the black envelope with no intention of opening it at the table. Unfortunately, the bird had been told to stay until the letter was read, because he stood still, watching Harry through his beady eyes. "Okay... this isn't good," Harry muttered to himself as he glanced up at the head table. Dumbledore had stood up, ready to approach the Gryffindor if trouble arose. Harry sliced the envelope open, and it immediately began speaking in a low voice... a voice that was all too familiar to Harry. It was a voice that sent shivers down his spine - a voice that sent fear and hatred running through his veins as the feelings never had before. It was a voice that Harry longed to put at an end.

"Mr. Potter," Voldemort's voice began. Though the Dark Lord was speaking quietly, it echoed in the deathly silent Great Hall. Harry swallowed nervously. "I am truly sorry that we are not able to meet face to face and speak about such matters. After all, I do not want people to think too highly of me after this is heard, but it is no matter." Harry could almost see the snake-like man waving his hand majestically through the air. Harry shivered as he realised just how well he knew Voldemort's mannerisms.

"To be quite honest, Harry, I was uncertain of our relationship after you left so abruptly a few months ago. But with this newest development, I cannot help but feel that you have your loyalties in the right place. This is why I am thanking you."

Harry looked from Draco, Ron and Hermione with the most incredulous look, that if it had not been such a surreal moment, Draco would have thought that Harry looked quite adorable.

"I am thanking you, Harry, for sending me my orb. I will not lie and say that I have not been looking for it. The orb is very valuable to my cause, and this unexpected act of generosity really... _touches_ me." Harry rolled his eyes at the sarcasm. "For now, I would like you to rethink about some issues. Remember who are your real friends, and that there is a place open for you. I await your arrival. Yours in comradeship, Lord Voldemort."

The black envelope turned into a ball of black and white flames on the table, just as the large bird took flight. The Hall remained deathly silent after as many shared worried looks with each other.

"Mr. Potter," Dumbledore stated in a firm voice. "My office, if you will."

Harry swallowed thickly, trying to get rid of the anxiousness that had tightened in his chest, but the fierce look in the Headmaster's normally friendly eyes only increased his anxiety. "Professor Dumbledore... I swear I didn't send him the orb."

  Dumbledore levelled a stern glare on Harry. "We will speak about it in my office."

  Harry could only manage a small meep in response as his legs slowly obeyed his mind and stood up. Draco grabbed his arm however, and pulled him down so that he could whisper in his ear. "Don't tell him who sent it, Harry."

  "Why not?"

"Because... something isn't right about it."

"They're my parents, Draco."

  "Which is why there is something not right."

  Harry glared at Draco, but the blond continued. "Just don't. Even if there isn't anything wrong, you don't want to incriminate them. You'd lose them."

  Harry slowly nodded, though he knew that it would be wrong not to say something. He hoped with his whole being that his parents had not sent the orb to Voldemort. With thoughts of his parents, Harry followed the Headmaster out of the Great Hall. The walk there was silent and it made Harry slightly nervous that Dumbledore was going to lose respect for Harry, maybe even punish him. Though he probably deserved a punishment.... How was he to have known that the orb would fall into Voldemort's hands? His parents were the ones who had sent it away. James and Lily were trustworthy.... right?

  "Please sit down, Harry," Dumbledore said suddenly.

  Harry was startled out of his thoughts, and was surprised to see that they had already arrived in the Headmaster's office. The Gryffindor nervously sat down and met the tired blue eyes before him. Dumbledore sighed with a weariness that worried Harry even more. It seemed as if the man was aging right before his very eyes.

Harry swallowed thickly. "Professor... I swear I didn't send the orb away. I would never send it to him. Besides, I never knew that it was Voldemort's orb. Why didn't you tell me?"

"I thought that you would be safer not knowing."

  "But why would you even give to me in the first place? You knew that it could put me in danger. Was this some sort of trick of yours to fool Voldemort? Were you trying to hide it in plain sight or what? What is it?"

Dumbledore sighed again. "I'm sorry, Harry if you think I was putting you in danger. Let me tell you about the orb. Its name is The Orb of Agito Familia. The rough translation of that is to drive out the animal slaves."

  Harry furrowed his brow and let out a low chuckle. "What? The animal slaves, sir?"

Dumbledore nodded gravely. "When Voldemort first made the orb, as far as my knowledge goes, his sole intention was to drive all creatures, dangerous or not, out of their homes and to him. In other words, he made all animals his servants, or according to the name, his slaves. He even procured a manticore and was able to keep it under his perfect control, something that nobody has ever been able to do."

Harry was silent for a few moments. "Every creature? Even things like Dementors? But if that's true, it doesn't make any sense, because at the third task, Voldemort said that Dementors were their natural allies."

  "You're right, Harry. Dementors don't need persuasion to join Voldemort, as they have already joined him. Voldemort will have their loyalty, but he won't have their word that they won't harm Death Eaters, or even himself. With the orb, he has complete control of the Dementors. They will not harm anybody who is faithful to Voldemort."

"So, is that the only thing that the orb does, sir?"

"I cannot be sure that he did not utilize it for more of his needs, but I am sure that he is able to. When it first came into my possession, I spent months on it, working out a way to do something else with it, so that nobody would think it was for anything else. I even coloured it black so that Voldemort couldn't be sure that it was his. It had been blood red when it came to me. My studies of it revealed that he could do more with it than what I had originally thought. I just don't know what he can do."

"So, now the wizarding world is in even more danger because these creatures will be put into Voldemort's command," Harry stated tonelessly.

  "I'm afraid so."

After Dumbledore said this, both sat in their own thoughts for a few moments, mulling over the situation. However, the curiosity became too much for Harry. "Sir? Am I to be punished for not taking better care of the orb?" Harry remembered the fierce look in Dumbledore's eyes in the Great Hall and inwardly shivered.

The wizened man sighed tiredly and folded his hands in his lap. "Harry, I am disappointed that you were not able to keep it better, but I'm afraid I must take most of the blame for its disappearance. You took the orb, not knowing what it was truly made for. You were blind throughout, and I apologise for that. I am also sorry if I seemed a bit cross with you earlier. You were not to blame for that anger."

Harry met the Headmaster's eyes, and in that moment he understood. Dumbledore had been angry with himself, not Harry. The Gryffindor nodded. "I understand, sir. May I go and see Sirius now? I've been wanting to speak with him."

If anything, Dumbledore's face became even graver at the mention of Sirius' name. "Yes, you may, Harry. But I must warn you that he is not himself since last night. Remus is currently tending to him."

  "What's the matter with him?" Harry asked nervously.

"I am afraid we do not know. Professor Snape was found in the same condition last night, muttering to himself. They both seem to be in a state of shock. There is nothing that Madam Pomfrey can do with medicine or magic. We must wait until they come to their senses, but in the meantime, we must tend to them, and act like we always do in their presence. So, I think it would be a good thing for you to go and see your godfather."

  Harry nodded and stood quickly. "Thank you, sir."

"Oh, and Harry?" The Headmaster called as Harry was hurrying out the door.

  "Yes?"

"If you need to talk about _anything_... anything at all, my door is always open to you."

  "Thank you, sir. I'll remember that."

When Harry got outside of the gargoyle that was guarding Dumbledore's door, he found Draco, Ron, and Hermione standing. "Harry, what happened?" Hermione asked anxiously. "Did Voldemort get the orb or something?"

Harry shrugged. "Apparently."

Ron looked relieved to see Harry taking it so easily. "So, it must not be a big deal then. You Know Who is probably just trying to lure you to him or something, right?"

  Harry shrugged again and pushed past the three other students. "That could be part of it." Draco made an exasperated sound in the back of his throat and spun Harry around by the shoulder.

  "Would you bloody well tell us what that old fool said to you?"

  "Don't call him that," Harry replied calmly and turned around to walk towards Sirius' rooms.

  "Where are you going?" Hermione asked, as she and the two other boys hurried to Harry's sides.

  "To see Sirius.... Which reminds me, Draco have you seen Snape since early last night?"

"No. Why?"

  "Because there's something wrong with him and Sirius. Dumbledore said that they appear to be in some sort of shock."

"But... why?"

  "I don't know. He didn't tell me much of anything else. That's why I'm hoping to speak with Remus because he might tell me something more."

"Is that all you spoke about?" Draco pressed on, though now his voice sounded a little strained.

  "No, we spoke about the orb."

  "And?" Ron prompted.

Harry stopped abruptly in his tracks and waited for the three to look at him. "Look," he grit out. "Apparently, the orb was made by Voldemort himself. Somehow, months before I got this damned scar, Dumbledore got hold of it, tampered around with it, and it somehow resulted in what we saw on my birthday."

"What did You Know Who make it for?" Hermione asked curiously.

  "It's called the Orb of Agito Familia. It basically lets Voldemort control any creatures that he wants to. Dumbledore said that at one time, he even had a manticore under his complete control. It can probably do other things as well, but nobody knows. Okay? Happy now? I'm going to see Sirius now."

  Harry turned and looked at Draco. His silver eyes had fierceness in them, and Harry could not really be sure if it was directed at him or not. "I told you that there was something more to that thing than what Dumbledore had originally told you," he said furiously. "Who knows what that red light did to both of us now? That's probably why nothing feels like it's right, like everything is off balance. That old fool was bloody using you to protect something. He gave you that damn thing for his sake, not for anybody but his! Now look where this whole mess has gotten us! Severus and Professor Black have something wrong with them; don't ask me why, but your parents are walking around Hogwarts, as well as your little brother and sister... I swear, Harry, there's something wrong with that. You are an only child, and an orphan at that! Why did I see your parents yesterday? Why?"

Draco seemed to be on the edge of hysteria. He was breathing heavily out of his nose and his eyes began to have a manic look to them. Harry took in a deep breath and gently took Draco by the arms. "Draco," he began quietly. "There isn't anything wrong, other than Voldemort in possession of the orb, Sirius and Snape acting a little off, and people disappearing. What you saw yesterday was normal. You need to stop thinking so much about it if it is causing you so much distress."

"I can't stop thinking about it, because it's _not bloody right!_" Draco yelled out.

At that moment, three Ravenclaw fifth year boys came around the corner and started laughing. "Good for you, Malfoy!" the taller, dark one exclaimed through laugher. "It's about time you realised that being a faggot isn't right!"

It was the wrong comment at the wrong time. Draco's anger and frustration had already been piqued, but now they were at full throttle. He ripped himself from Harry's grip and tackled the Ravenclaw to the ground. Harry and Ron were there in an instant, holding back Draco's fist just in time. "Get off me!" Draco yelled. But both Gryffindors did not relent. With Ron's help, Harry pulled the struggling Slytherin into his arms and held him tightly. Ron, slightly red faced and panting backed off, glaring at the Ravenclaws. Harry glared right along with him.

  "I'll be speaking with Madam Hooch about this," Hermione said fiercely behind them. Madam Hooch had taken over Flitwick's place as Head of Ravenclaw until the professor was recovered. "If you were _smart_, you'd mind your own business."

The Ravenclaws bristled. "What about him?" One of them spat out as he helped his friend off of the floor. "He attacked Craig."

  "We'll deal with him accordingly," Hermione said through a clenched jaw. "Go back to your Common Room."

The four waited until the Ravenclaws were out of earshot before any of them moved again. Harry realised that Draco was still tucked inside of his arms, taking calming breaths against his neck.

  "Are you all right now, Draco?" he asked quietly.

The Slytherin nodded and pulled back so that he could look in Harry's eyes. "Sorry about that," he muttered as his face flushed pink. "It's... it's just so confusing. I can't help but be frustrated about it."

  "I know," Harry soothed, though he really did not get why Draco did not get it. What was so hard to understand? His parents had paid him a visit yesterday and his brother and sister had come along. Was it really that hard to understand?

Despite Harry's misgivings about the entire situation, he kissed Draco in reassurance. "I'm going to go see Sirius now. You can go see Snape if you want."

Draco nodded. "I think I will. I'll see you later, all right?" When Harry nodded, Draco leaned up and took Harry in a deep kiss as if reassuring himself that Harry was actually there. Ron coughed uncomfortably behind them and they broke apart.

"See you," Harry said breathlessly and let Draco out of his arms.

When the Slytherin disappeared from view, Harry began moving again in the opposite direction, his friends mere steps behind him. "Harry," Hermione began. "What in the world was Draco talking about earlier?"

  "Nothing. It's complicated and I'd rather not talk about it right now, all right? I'd rather go to see Sirius alone for right now, if you don't mind."

  "Are you sure?" Ron asked, sceptically. "It certainly didn't sound like nothing. Harry, what's going on with your parents?"

"If you really want to know, then talk to Draco. I'm tired of people asking me about my parents. I want to go see Sirius now."

Hermione's eyes softened and she elbowed Ron when he began to retort. "Of course," Hermione replied. "We'll see you later, then, and Ron won't be an insensitive berk and ask about your parents again."

Harry did not reply as he hurried off towards Sirius' chambers. As he neared, Remus was just stepping out, closing the door quietly behind him. "Remus!" Harry called out.

  The older man turned in alarm but his face relaxed when he saw Harry. "Hey, Harry. I was just coming to look for you."

The younger Gryffindor stopped in front of Remus. "What's wrong with him, Remus?"

"I don't know." He shook his head gravely. "It was the strangest thing when I found him last night. He was standing outside of his office, just staring at the wall. All the essays that he was going to correct were on the floor, and when he saw me, he started babbling."

"About what?"

"Well... he was talking about your parents. He was saying that James came to see him and that we could rest because James and Lily were going home."

"How is he now?"

"He's quiet. He's been sitting on the couch, staring at the fire for the past hour. I was coming to look for you because he asked for you a few moments ago. Why don't you come in and see if you can have a coherent conversation with him? I know I've tried but haven't been able to."

"Do you think I could speak with him alone?"

"Of course. I've been meaning to speak with Professor Dumbledore anyhow. If you wouldn't mind staying with him until I get back… I don't feel comfortable leaving him alone."

Harry nodded. Remus smiled, but it was strained. "Sirius will be okay, Remus," Harry assured with a small smile of his own.

"I know. You better get in there. I'll be back in an hour."

Harry immediately opened the door as Remus walked away and closed it behind himself quietly. Sirius was sitting on the couch as Remus had said, but in the most uncomfortable looking position. He was sitting with his back as stiff as a board, his hands clasped in his lap, and his hair was falling in his face, tickling his nose. Harry approached him carefully and sat beside him. He could not even be sure that Sirius had taken notice of him because he had not reacted.

  "Sirius?"

The older man blinked and stiffly turned his head to look at Harry. He squinted his pale blue eyes at him. "James?"

"Erm - no, Sirius. I'm Harry. Remus said you asked for me."

"Oh, yes, Remus. Do you know him as well, Harry? I like to call him Moony. Did you know that that is his nickname? He calls me Padfoot, but James calls me Paddy. He came to see me yesterday, did you know that? He called me Paddy, and he talked about Lily. She was in the owlery, sending something with an owl. Did you know that she could still use owls?"

  "Well, yes... why wouldn't she be able to use owls?" Harry asked, genuinely confused.

  Sirius' eyes widened. "I thought you knew. Her kind isn't able to use owls. It's just not possible."

  "What do you mean, her kind? A Muggleborn? Muggleborns are able to use owls."

  "Oh, no. Muggleborns are able to. That's not what I meant. I meant dead people." Harry's mouth fell open slightly, but his godfather continued. "Have you seen your parents, Harry? Did you know that you look exactly like James? Are they here? Can I see them?"

  "No, they aren't here. I suspect they're at home."

  "So you have seen them!"

  "Of course. They came to see me about the orb."

Sirius nodded his head vigorously. "Yes, yes. James said that. James said that."

The older man was about to continue but Harry placed a hand on his elbow, and his ramblings ceased. "Sirius? You don't have to speak right now. Just listen to me. Yes, you did see my dad the other day. Yes, he did speak about my mum, and he obviously spoke about me as well. It was real. I've seen them both. I don't see that there is anything strange about it, but Draco seems to think that there is. He has seen them too, you know. I need to tell you the truth though, Sirius... I'm so confused. I really am. Everybody keeps telling me how they died the night I got this scar on my forehead. I read it in the article about me in the paper this morning, I read it everywhere, and I hear it everywhere. But it doesn't make what I see any less real. I see my parents. I hear my parents, and they're here with me on earth. They aren't anywhere else. All I know is what I see. They're real, and that's all that matters. I don't care if nobody else believes me, or if nobody believes you. We know that they're here."

  Sirius' face changed within seconds after Harry was done speaking. Sirius' face relaxed first, then he relaxed his entire body into the couch. It was like a large weight had been lifted off him.

"I'm confused, Harry, so very, very confused. It's hard to say what's going on in my head right now. I need to keep talking... keep talking, keep talking. I need to repeat to myself to make sure I said what I meant to say. I saw James. I know I did. I know he was real, and I know that he spoke to me. I know it, I know it, I _know_ it. But I don't believe it. I don't. I can't. I want to, but I can't. Something is telling me in the back of my mind that I mourned for him. I mourned, mourned... I mourned for him. But why would I mourn for him when I just saw him? Is he dead? Is he alive? Is he real? Is he a ghost?"

He stopped but started banging his fists on his head. "I need to get it out of my head. There are two different Sirius' in my head right now, telling me what's what, but I can't figure them out. I don't know which one is right." He banged his fists so hard that Harry was afraid that he might give himself a concussion. Harry grabbed his wrists and held them together. "Out... out... One of you, stop it. Both of you stop it. I'll figure it out for myself." Sirius fell silent for a few moments before he looked up at Harry with a smile. ".... He calls me Paddy. Did you know that? Sometimes he even called me Paddio, because I was so lazy and could pass as patio furniture if I just lay on a patio. Did you know that? I don't think you did because we never really speak of him, do we?"

"Shh. I know now. Let's just lie down right here, and we'll go to sleep. Then we won't have to think about it, now will we?"

"No, no, no. No thinking about it when we're asleep."

  Sirius took his wrists from Harry, but immediately wrapped his arms tightly around the younger man and lay down so that Harry was leaning his head against his chest. "We'll sleep. You'll help me sleep. I didn't sleep much. I could sleep only when somebody is with me. You'll help me sleep. Help... help is good. Help."

  "Shh... I'll help you sleep. Just be quiet, and we'll both sleep."

  Minutes later, Sirius' gentle snores filled the room. Harry sighed in relief, took his glasses off, and draped his arm over his godfather's chest. He burrowed further into Sirius' body and let his eyelids droop, and soon, he too was fast asleep.

* * *

A/N: I would put a teaser in for chapter 10, but since I have not finished rewriting the whole thing, I won't. If you really want one, here is it. 'Sex.' That's the entire teaser you're getting. ^_^

There were a few inquiries that I felt that I should answer, so here they are. 

**ravenbeaut** - You asked about Ron and Hermione and why they aren't being more inquisitive about Austin now that they saw him. Well. I did have a scene written into the fic with them being a lot more inquisitive, but I felt like it took too much from the story. I think it's safe to assume that they are doing it in the background. That was certainly my intention. There is just so much going on this story already, that I just couldn't put it in. It's a cut scene.  
**Cryss** - I can see how you concluded that ALL of the Death Eaters raped Draco, but that was not my intention as I wrote it. In my mind, I thought it was about three, maybe four. Now, I have never been through anything as traumatic as that, but I would think that Draco would be traumatized. Even if it was only one, or maybe two a night, I would think that his mind would tell him that there are way more than that. I mean, he didn't want to go through any of it, so one would be pretty horrible. I would think that all his mind was telling him was, 'there are too many. When is it going to stop?' I hope you know what I'm saying. So, when he was explaining his experience to Harry, he said basically what he had been thinking at the time. He really didn't know how many there were. They all wore their masks when they went to him. As for Voldemort, he never went to Draco at first. He let the Death Eaters take him, because he didn't really have an interest. But, when he did finally take an interest, and visited Draco, he decided that he wanted Draco all to himself. That's when he banned his followers from Draco.

Thank you to everybody else who reviewed. Keep the great feedback coming! 


	10. The First Time

**A/N:** First, I apologize for the ridiculously long wait. But, chapters 10-12 were the chapters that my disk decided to eat up, so I had to rewrite them. I'm still not done writing them over again, because I've since started a new fic that I have yet to post here at ff.net. And I'll just apologize right now because I have a feeling it will be a bit of wait for chapter 11 as well, because I'm moving this weekend and won't have access to the internet until I can afford it. Let's hope my roomies will help with the bill, yes? ^_^ I'll try to get it posted as soon as possible. There is no way that I will abandon this trilogy, so don't fret. I know that some of you are judging by the emails I've received.

Also, big thank yous go out to my lovely betas, Karmastaya and Padfoots_Bitch.  And if you'll notice, I changed my name to RadeliaPotter for er- personal reasons.  I had a moment of panic in real life and mostly friend's locked my LiveJournal and changed my name here.  I hope I didn't cause any confusion.

BWarnings:/B Male/male sex ensues in this chapter.  If you hate slash, but have made it this far…. Um, go away.

* * *

**Remember You**  
_Chapter Ten_  
~~~~~

As the weeks faded into mid-December, the weather became bitingly cold, and it snowed nearly every day. The result of this was more than a foot of snow on the ground. The first years took advantage of it as often as they could. Harry liked to gaze out the windows at times, watching the smaller children play. It almost looked like a Christmas card, waiting to be captured with a Muggle camera.

It had already been nearly three weeks since Sirius had fallen ill, and he showed no signs of getting better. In fact, there would be many days in a row that he would not even rise from bed to shower. Remus had been approached by Dumbledore to take over the Defence classes.

Due to Remus's last experience as a Professor, he opted to disguise himself as a French man, named Maurice. For the Gryffindor trio and Draco, who were the only students who knew who Maurice really was, it was very amusing to see Remus act like a completely different person. Remus adopted a French accent, which Harry quite admired, and got in the habit of making large hand gestures while bouncing around the room. There had been a few times in which Remus had had to take out his wand to repair an item after knocking it down. Remus had confided in Harry one night that playing Maurice brought back old and good memories of his time at Hogwarts. Harry never did ask why that was as Remus always seemed so content to be lost in his thoughts of the past.

Presently, as Harry trudged through the snow to Hagrid's cabin for Care of Magical Creatures, he remembered that the full moon would be approaching in just a couple days. He wondered what excuse Remus would be forced to use. Before Harry could ponder this further, however, he was pelted in the side of the head with a large snowball. He whipped his head around and mock-glared at Ron, who was pointing and laughing at him.

"Don't fret, Harry," Draco said, digging into the snow. "I'll get him back for you."

"Oh, honestly, you boys," Hermione admonished, pointing her wand at Draco and making him drop the snowball, "it's time for class. We can have a snowball fight afterwards. Draco, you're Head Boy. Set an example."

Draco sneered after her as she continued ahead of them. Ron ran to catch up with her. Harry distinctly heard him say that Draco made him throw a snowball at Harry. The dark-haired boy shook his head, smiling, and grabbed Draco's gloved hand. "Let's go, Snow Angel. I'm sure Hagrid has a great class for us in store."

Draco scoffed as they reached the clearing. "Highly doubtful, I should think."

At that moment, Hagrid came marching toward them with a large crate in his arms. "'Ello, ever'body. I 'ave a great class planned fer yeh today."

Harry smirked, elbowing Draco in the side. "Told you he would have a good class today."

"Likely story," Draco muttered.

Harry grinned, and wrapped his arm around the blonde's waist, leaning his head on Draco's shoulder. "Hush, you," he admonished affectionately. "Now keep me warm, or pay the consequences."

"Scary," Draco smiled, and wrapped his arm around Harry's shoulders.

Hagrid opened the crate he had carried from his cabin to reveal a nest of brambles and thorns. A small, vulture-like bird popped its head up and stared around at the students. "Can anybody tell me what this is?" Hagrid asked, beaming around.

Hermione's hand shot up in the air. "It's an Augurey," she informed them.

"Five points to Gryffindor," Hagrid beamed.

Draco buried his face in Harry's hair and groaned. "This is almost as boring as the flobberworms. There are Augureys on the grounds at the manor. I used to see those dreadful things all the time. There was a man who worked our gardens, who kept insisting to father that we get rid of them. He was a batty old coot. Every time he heard one of them cry out, he'd run to the lake into the old rowboat and row himself into the middle of the lake. Barmy old codger drowned out there when his boat sprung a leak." Draco laughed, and Harry fought a smile.

"Didn't anybody try to help him? And why didn't he just Apparate back to the ground?"

"Well, nobody was around to hear him screaming. I was in my room, and I couldn't very well hear him. Plus, he was a squib."

"Wh-" Harry began, but was cut off when a low rumble vibrated in the ground.

"What was that?" Pansy Parkinson asked fretfully. 

The students and Hagrid began looking around for the source, but saw nothing. The ground began to shake beneath their feet again, just as Ron grabbed Harry's arm. "Look at the forest," he whispered. Harry looked to Ron, and noticed that his freckles were standing out in stark contrast on his suddenly paper-white skin. The dark-haired boy looked to where Ron's eyes were focused and saw the trees shaking and quivering.

"Damn," Draco whispered, following Ron's gaze as well. "What the hell is coming out of there?"

"I don't know," Harry shook his head, backing away. "But I think we should not be close when it comes out." Harry vividly remembered when Hagrid had brought Ron, Hermione, and him into the very bowels of the forest to meet his half-brother, Grawp. Harry had not heard if Hagrid had kept his brother in the forest since then, but he had a sinking feeling that it just might be so.

To everybody's horror, a spider, which was at least four feet tall, came scuttling out of the forest. Ron whimpered beside Harry and pulled at his sleeve. "It's the Acromantula, Harry. Let's get out of here."

"Hagrid's their friend," Harry reminded the redhead. "They won't eat us as long as Hagrid is here."

Ron grimaced and began backing away as more spiders began emerging from the forest. "We used Hagrid as an excuse last time, and they didn't listen. I think we should go now."

"Git back to the castle!" Hagrid roared to the students. The students who had not yet moved out of horror, moved into action, and scurried back to the castle as fast as they could go. Ron, Hermione, and Draco began to leave, but Harry stayed behind. He wanted to help Hagrid, if he needed help. Harry watched as two large Acromantula came from the forest. They were almost as large as Aragog, and Harry felt his throat tighten at the sight of them.

"Come on, Harry!" Draco pulled at his arm. "We need to get out of here!"

The smaller spiders were coming for them, but even at their size, it would take at least three people to stun them. "We need to get out of here, Harry!" Draco reiterated.

"No! I need to help Hagrid! He's going to try talking to them by himself, and he can't do magic. He needs a wizard."

"Leave it to a professor, Harry," Draco pled, eyeing a spider in apprehension as it closed in on them.

Hagrid looked back at them in a break from yelling at the larger spiders to go back to the forest. "Git back to the castle, 'Arry!" he shouted.

Harry hesitated for one moment longer before turning and running with Draco. Ron and Hermione had been waiting for them, even though Ron was dancing on the spot in agitation. "You little bint, Harry!" Ron shouted as they ran.

"Shut up, Ron," Harry yelled back.

The four students reached the steps to the castle a few moments later, and turned back around to watch what was happening. Acromantula were hurrying from the forest, and down the grounds of Hogwarts towards Hogsmeade. Four of the largest spiders were gathered around Hagrid now, and the half-giant seemed to be pleading with them.

"Somebody needs to tell Dumbledore," Draco said. "Granger, we should probably go."

"No need, Malfoy," Seamus Finnigan said tightly. "A few students already went to get him."

"They better hurry," Harry whispered fearfully. He was feeling on edge, and he was not sure how much longer he could just stand there and do nothing while Hagrid was in obvious distress. As they watched, smaller and seemingly less harmless creatures emerged from the forest, but nobody could really distinguish what they were. The small group of students stood watching as Hagrid waved his arms about, and yelled up to four of the largest Acromantula who had surrounded him. 

Suddenly, Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall pushed through to the front of the crowd, and they watched in horror for a moment as one of the Acromantula picked up Hagrid and carried him down the lawns of Hogwarts as though he were a rag doll. Harry cried out in horror and started to run after them, but Draco and Professor McGonagall pulled him back. 

"Everybody, please go back to your dormitories, immediately," the Headmistress commanded. "This matter will be taken care of in a timely way. Please, move along."

"But, Professor," Harry protested.

"But, nothing, Mr. Potter," she replied sternly. "You will go back to your dormitory. Immediately." 

"Harry, we will take care of this," Dumbledore said urgently. "Right now, there is nothing that you can do. Hagrid will be taken care of. There are too many creatures on the loose, and I am sure that you understand what this means."

Harry nodded soberly, feeling guilt wash over him in waves. "Fine, then. I'll go."

The Gryffindor turned then, took Draco's hand and went back into the castle. Most other students had dispersed already, and the foursome went into the school together. "Do you want me to come to Gryffindor with you?" Draco asked, giving Harry's hand a small squeeze. 

"Yes," Harry said quietly. "I just… don't really want to think about Hagrid right now. Ron? Hermione? Are you coming?"

"Yes," Hermione said, sniffling. Ron put his arm around her, and led the way up the marble staircase. 

"Hagrid will be all right, you know," Draco said softly into Harry's ear as they followed. 

"I don't want to think about it, Draco," Harry said firmly. "It's entirely my fault. If I had never let the orb out of my sight… those Acromantula never would have come out of the forest. And even if they had come out, they would have listened to Hagrid. It's my fault."

Ron looked back at Draco and shook his head to stop him from replying, so the small group walked the rest of the way to Gryffindor in silence. When they arrived in the Common room, Harry stopped and looked around for a few moments before silently walking to the boys' staircase. "I'm going to have a lie-down," he announced over his shoulder. "Draco, come with me if you like."

Draco wasted no time in following his boyfriend. As the blond passed Seamus and Dean, who were sitting on the couch, Seamus looked up and winked at Draco. "You know what that means, right, Malfoy? He wants a _means_ to distract himself."

Draco glared at Seamus, but his eye was diverted to the two students who were sitting in the corner next to the fireplace. It was Austin and Sierra. He spoke to Seamus, but kept eye contact with Austin. "I hardly think so, Finnigan. And I don't think you should be concerning yourself with our sex life," Austin looked away, so Draco looked to Seamus, "even if you don't have anything better to do." Seamus pouted as Draco walked away. When Draco caught up with Harry on the bottom step, he found that Harry was blushing, and he quickly turned away before the blond could see his face. 

"Just ignore Seamus, Draco. He's harmless, you know."

"Horny, too."

"But, harmless, on the whole."

Draco shrugged and closed the door behind them as they entered the seventh-year boys' dorm. "I don't really know what I want to do," Harry admitted, sitting on the edge of his bed. "Having a lie-down doesn't really appeal to me. I just wanted to get away from everybody."

"Then inviting me was a bit pointless, don't you think?" Draco asked, sitting gingerly next to him. 

"Not at all," Harry smiled slightly. "You're here to distract me a little."

Harry watched as Draco's eyes darted around nervously and he scooted away from Harry. "I don't know, Harry. What would I be able to do that would distract you? I… maybe I should just go back to Slytherin for a while, and I'll see you at dinner."

"I know what you're thinking, and no, Seamus wasn't right in thinking that I wanted to do anything more than talk right now. He's just horny, like you said."

"Is he gay?" Draco inquired. 

"Not to my knowledge, no," Harry said tentatively. "He's just really open about sex, I think."

Draco nodded. "Well, I didn't get too much sleep last night, and I know that I wouldn't mind a bit of a lie-down. You know that sleep is the best way to forget something if you're distressed, right?"

"Yes," Harry replied slowly. "I suppose we could take a small nap before dinner. Will you hold me then?"

The blond smiled and brushed a lock of hair away from Harry's forehead. "Of course, I will, Harry. What a silly question." Draco pulled both himself and Harry to their feet. "Now, take off as many clothes to make you comfortable while we lie down. It's never comfortable to sleep in this uniform." Draco took off his cloak and carefully laid it over the back of a straight backed, wooden chair, and then began loosening the knot in his tie. Harry hesitated, looking uncertainly at Draco as he undressed. 

"I don't know about this, Draco. I-"

"What's the problem, Harry? Are you afraid of showing me what you look like underneath all those clothes? Because, honestly, it's nothing that I haven't seen before, and if you're really worried, I'll reassure you: you're gorgeous, okay?" Draco began unbuttoning his shirt to reveal that he had a plain white t-shirt on underneath. 

"That's not why I'm hesitating, Draco." Harry bit his lip. Lately, he had not had much luck in not fantasizing about his boyfriend in the dark hours of the night, and it had been quite some time since they had lain in a bed together, much less nearly naked. Harry did not want to scare Draco away, and thought that he might if he allowed this to happen. "I want you, Draco, and…"

Draco stopped from slipping the shirt off his shoulders and sighed. "If this is too big of a problem for you, then I'll just leave. I don't like sleeping in clothes. I can leave my undershirt and boxers on if I'm making you uncomfortable. If you can handle it, just take your bloody clothes off already. I won't run away if you push an erection against my thigh, Harry. Just take the clothes off."

"Yes, because we all know that sex can't take place with the clothes on, Harry," Seamus stuck his head through the door, grinning impishly. "Hasn't anybody given you the basics of Sex Education?"

"Finnigan… what the hell is your problem? And more importantly, what do you want?" Draco asked testily, pulling his shirt closed around his chest.

"Just a book from my trunk," he grinned, slipping into the room and going to his trunk. "So you two are about to do the dirty deed, are you? It's not the first time, is it? You've been together since sixth year, I hear."

"It's not any of your business how many times Harry and I have had sex. Besides, we've lost count by now, obviously." Harry raised an eyebrow at him, but Draco sneered back at him. Harry sighed and sat heavily onto his bed. 

Seamus pulled a book from his trunk and held it loosely at his side. "Really?" he asked interestedly. "I bet Harry is real good in bed, isn't he? What's it like to kiss another boy?"

Draco stared openly at him for a moment. "Finnigan, are you gay?"

"No. Why?"

"I'm just wondering. You just seem sort of… for a lack of a better term, fruity."

Seamus shrugged, seemingly unperturbed about the comment. "So… are you two really going to be having sex now?"

"Seamus," Harry groaned, dropping his head in his hands. 

"Don't you have somewhere to be?" Draco snapped irritably. 

Seamus let out a soft "yes" and scurried from the room, closing the door behind him. Draco shook his head and turned to Harry. "Now that we've got the resident dingleberry out of here, take off your clothes." Draco pulled off his shirt, leaving him in his undershirt and began taking down his trousers. Harry sighed softly and began doing as he was told. He left himself in his boxers, as he never wore an undershirt, and quickly climbed into bed. Draco soon joined him, and they snuggled together after they had closed the curtains. Harry found it was not quite so difficult to be in bed with his boyfriend when he could not see the blond. But, if Draco kept wiggling like that so as to get comfortable, Harry thought, Draco would not be safe from Harry's reaction. Harry quickly searched his brain for a different thought, and it immediately fell back to Hagrid. He let out a small shudder and burrowed himself closer to Draco, who squeezed him tightly. 

"I can't think of it, Draco. Merlin, I hope he's okay." Harry was still trying to get closer to Draco for comfort and he pressed his feet against Draco's, making the blond jump. 

"Your feet are freezing!" he exclaimed. "Will I need to put a permanent heating charm on our bed when we move in together after Hogwarts? I will not tolerate cold feet, you realise."

"Sor-" Harry stopped speaking, and looked up at Draco. "Mo… move in together?" he stuttered. 

"Oh," Draco said tonelessly. "I am officially an idiot. I can't believe I just said that."

"Why? You don't actually want to move in with me, do you?" Harry asked, dreading the answer. His heart began to beat rapidly, hoping that Draco had meant what he said. 

"No, that's not it. I just… I… I suppose that's part of your Christmas present."

"You were going to ask me to move in with you for a present?" Harry fought the smile that was breaking over his face. 

"Well… something like that, yes. But, I can see that you don't seem too enthralled at the idea, so just forget that I even said anything, okay? I'll just stay at the manor or… Wait. I can't do that, can I? I'll just er- get my own place if Severus doesn't want me to stay-"

"Draco, be quiet," Harry admonished, placing a finger over Draco's lips. "You didn't even give me a chance to answer."

Draco looked apprehensively into Harry's eyes. "So, your answer isn't no, yet?"

"Stop being such a little idiot," the Gryffindor said affectionately. "You know that I would love to live with you. I don't want to be without you, you know."

The blond let out a relieved laugh and kissed Harry's forehead. "Really? You really want to move in with me? We can live together? We can pick out how to decorate and everything together?"

"Personally, I think that's more your forte, but if you want me to help, then I will," Harry replied, feeling his heart lighten with happiness. 

Draco smiled beatifically at Harry and leaned down to kiss him. Harry pulled away before it could continue for too long, and settled for running his fingers through Draco's hair. They fell into silence for a long while, and Harry was just falling into a light sleep when he began to dream of Hagrid being brutally ripped apart by an Acromantula. He gasped and sat up in his bed. Draco sat up and pulled him back down, soothingly running his fingers through the dark hair. "Shh… it's just a dream, Harry."

"But, Hagrid… he was being ripped apart…. He was dead, Draco. There wasn't anything I could do."

"It was just a dream," Draco repeated. "They'll get him back soon enough."

Harry continued to tremble in Draco's arms for a few minutes, but could not get his mind to focus on anything else. "Please, Draco," he whispered, "I need to forget it right now. Just say or do anything. Make me forget it for now."

"I don't think that is particularly healthy -"

"Draco, please!" Harry pled.

Draco stared at Harry, and gently caressed his cheek. "Okay. Let's talk about when we'll move in together then."

"What will our room look like?"

"It will have a Victorian feel to it. Our king-sized bed will be a four-poster with dark blue hangings. The comforter will be a shade lighter, and we'll have so many pillows on the bed that you could get lost in them. The windows will be adorned with a sort of classy floral blue curtains, the same shade as our comforter."

"Okay, enough of our bedroom. What will we do when we're not working and home alone together?" Harry interrupted.

"I think you can guess, Harry," Draco said lowly.

"No, I can't," Harry replied innocently, staring at Draco with wide, questioning eyes.

Draco let out a low laugh, running his hands through Harry's hair. "You're such a little sod," he murmured affectionately.

Harry smiled, and brought Draco's hand to his mouth and kissed his palm. "I love you, you know."

"I love you, too."

Draco gently encased Harry's hand with his own, and stroked Harry's cheek with his free hand. "I think you're the most beautiful thing I've ever seen," Draco murmured suddenly. Harry's cheeks flushed, and he pushed his face into Draco's hand, rubbing his cheek into it in slow circles. 

"You're obviously delusional," Harry whispered, eyes closed so that he did not have to look at Draco. 

"Maybe, but my vision is perfect."

Harry's eyes flew open and they locked with Draco's. "You do realise that you're being incredibly sweet and sappy right now, right?" 

"Yes, but I'm suddenly feeling very sweet and sappy."

"Draco," Harry hummed, eyelids becoming heavy as he looked through his lashes at the blond. 

"Harry," Draco returned lowly, leaning down and slowly capturing Harry's lips with his. Harry felt his eyes flutter shut. Harry thread his fingers into Draco's fine, blond hair, and pulled him gently to him. The pressure placed on his lips was too soft. He wanted to feel Draco's lips firmly against his own. 

Draco gently wet Harry's lower lip with his own tongue, and Harry felt his mouth fall open under the encouragement. Harry poked his tongue out to touch Draco's almost shyly, and was rewarded by Draco returning the pressure. The blond pulled away to place a soft kiss on Harry's chin. Harry whimpered. "You're such a tease," he whispered.

Draco's eyes were shining with amusement. "You think so? What would you like from me, Harry?"

"I want you to kiss me, and none of that wimpy stuff, Draco. I want you to _kiss_ me." Harry arranged his face to look pleading, and, he thought to himself, maybe a little cute. 

"Oh," Draco said quietly, tracing Harry's bottom lip with a fingertip. "Is that all?"

The Gryffindor's breath caught and he swallowed. "Would you give me more if I asked you to?"

"I think it depends on how you define 'more,' and if I am comfortable with that. But… why don't we find out, hmm?"

Harry nodded in anticipation and let Draco kiss him. Draco stretched his body to lie over Harry's, and his long fingers languidly explored Harry's sides. The dark haired boy felt his breathing quicken under his boyfriend's touch. Suddenly, nothing seemed to matter outside his curtained bed. All that mattered was that Draco was touching him, and it felt good. Harry felt strangely relaxed at the thought that Draco's touch was so familiar to him. Harry's skin tingled and burned pleasantly where Draco touched him. 

Draco began laying a trail of hot, wet kisses along his cheek and down his neck. He sucked gently on Harry's pulse point making Harry moan loudly, and his hips buck up into Draco's in response. Draco pulled back startled. "Sorry," Harry whispered, while wishing very much that Draco had not stopped. "It just felt so good."

Draco swallowed and let out a breath. "No, I'm sorry. I… you deserve this…. Just let me… let me get accustomed." Draco's breathing was harsh. Whether it was from arousal or nervousness, Harry could not tell. "I want to make you feel good," Draco continued before leaning down and flicking his tongue over Harry's nipple. Harry wrapped his legs around Draco's waist to get some friction, but Draco lifted his hips, and held Harry down. Harry panted loudly, feeling desperate and wanton, but there was also the guilt lying underneath from letting Draco do this to him, when Draco was not ready. Draco was suddenly tracing a trail down Harry's stomach with a wet tongue, and Harry felt as if he were falling into a deep abyss. His thoughts left him, and his brain felt foggy. His toes curled above Draco and he rolled his head back. 

Suddenly, Draco was moving away from him again, and Harry felt bereft. The warmth of the Slytherin's body was gone, and the wet trail of saliva was suddenly too cold. Harry lazily opened his eyes to see Draco sitting at the end of the bed, stiff and wary. "Draco?" he questioned. "Did I do something wrong?"

The blonde's eyes snapped to Harry, and he placed his finger over his mouth. Confused, Harry sat up and listened to the sounds of the dorm as Draco gestured towards the hangings. There was muted whispering and some giggling on the other side. Harry frowned, grabbed his wand, and stuck out just his head. To his surprise, Seamus and Dean were whispering together, and Seamus was handing Dean something that looked suspiciously like an Extendable Ear. 

"What the bloody hell are you doing?" Harry asked testily. "You weren't about to spy on Draco and me, were you?"

Both boys jumped, looking distinctly guilty. Harry frowned at them sternly and summoned the ear to him. "Now go back to the Common Room unless you have something else to do. Draco and I are discussing something important."

Seamus giggled. "Yeah, we heard. Did you two develop a secret panting language?"

"Get out!" Draco yelled. Harry looked over to him and found him sitting stiffly. Harry turned back to his dorm mates, and glared until they had left, shutting the door behind them. Harry closed the curtains and then gathered his boyfriend into his arms. 

"It's all right, Draco," he soothed. Harry was concerned to feel Draco shaking. 

"They sometimes eavesdropped, or watched while I was taken," Draco whispered suddenly. "It was humiliating."

"Oh… Draco, we don't have to do anything. Let's just lie here." Harry kissed his head, and soothingly rubbed his back, all too aware of his erection that was pressing into Draco's side. Harry tried moving away, but Draco pressed himself more into it. Harry stifled a groan. "Draco, what are you doing? We don't have to do anything just because I'm aroused."

The blond looked up and stared defiantly into Harry's eyes. "Harry, I'm in love with you."

"I know you are. I never said otherwise."

"No, that's not what I'm saying. I am in love with you. I already confessed, albeit accidentally, that I want to move in with you after Hogwarts. I can't… I can't keep acting scared. I have to get over this someday. True, it'll always be there in the back of my mind, but I need to forget it enough so that I can have a healthy relationship with you. Harry, I'll be blunt: I want to have sex with you. I can't tell you how many times I've… well, how many times I've wanked in the shower or in my bed thinking about you." Harry blushed. Draco smiled, and caressed his cheek. "I know you have, too, if I have."

Harry nodded dumbly, feeling his face heat up even more. "I have, as well, too many times to count, Draco," he whispered embarrassed. 

"Don't be embarrassed. I bet you're beautiful when you touch yourself."

"I doubt it," Harry laughed nervously. 

Draco kissed Harry softly. "Well, don't. Will you help me get over this, Harry? I _do_ want you. Never doubt that."

"I will only if you're completely sure, Draco. I know I'm ready. I have been for a long time. I've only been waiting for you."

"Well, I'm ready, Harry. I'm a little scared, but… I trust you not to hurt me."

Harry's heart suddenly started thumping madly in his chest with the prospect with finally being allowed to touch Draco how he wanted. He stared at Draco, suddenly completely unsure of what to do. He had imagined this moment for months now. He had planned out every move by consulting his gay sex book that he received from Sirius for his birthday, but now that the moment of truth had come, he was not sure where to start. Harry stared as Draco looked at him expectantly. The Gryffindor felt a small sweat break out. He quietly berated himself for suddenly feeling like this. They had just been getting intimate not ten minutes ago, and he had not felt so nervous. Harry took a deep breath, wondering why talking about having sex made it so much worse to do.

"I… I don't know what to do first," he admitted quietly. "I'm nervous."

"So am I, Harry." Draco smiled softly and kissed Harry's nose. "But, you can never go wrong with kissing. Why don't we try kissing each other first?" Harry nodded, feeling a bit dense, and leaned forward to kiss the blond. Harry was shaking so badly that their teeth clacked together, and he had to pull back to apologise before they continued. Draco shook his head and pulled Harry in, impatient for it to all start. His nerves were frayed as well, but he felt like if he waited much longer to have sex with Harry, it would not happen. 

As soon as they fell into the familiarity of kissing, Harry regained his confidence, and suddenly, he was pulling Draco's shirt over his head, and turning them around so that Draco was lying on his back. Harry pressed his body against Draco's, and buried his face in the blonde's neck. 

"I love you," he murmured, and kissed Draco's neck. 

Harry lifted himself up on his hands, but stopped when he felt the smooth wood of his wand pressing against his palm. He picked it up and cast an imperturbable charm, before throwing it aside and leaning down to kiss Draco's chest. The curtains on the bed fell stiff, and the silence hung around them like a heavy blanket. The Gryffindor sat back on his knees and admired Draco from above. He idly rubbed his thumbs over Draco's nipples, and wondered if it was possible to touch and get to know every part of his body all at once. Suddenly, Harry's mind was in a fog, and he hardly realised that he was running his hands all along Draco's body, just barely touching. Draco was trying to arch up into Harry's barely-there touch, and whimpered each time Harry pulled slightly away. 

"Harry, stop teasing me," he whispered. 

Harry's nerves came back to him without warning, and he pulled his hands away. Draco saw the nervousness come back, so he sat up, and gently pushed Harry so that Harry was the one lying on his back. "Stop teasing, and stop thinking so damn much. Just let it happen, Harry," he whispered against his neck. 

Harry shivered. "Yeah, you're right."

After Draco pulled off Harry's boxers, it was hard to tell what happened next. Draco's lips, tongue, and hands were everywhere and nowhere all at once. Harry wanted Draco to be able to touch him everywhere. He wanted Draco to stop making him gasp and cry out so much, but he also did not want it to stop. He never wanted Draco to stop touching him, if it meant that it would feel like this. When Draco finally stopped licking and kissing his chest and navel, he moved down and tentatively licked the tip of Harry's erection. Harry's hips bucked, and he was suddenly afraid that he would come if Draco licked him there again. He was already so close. 

"Draco," he rasped, and pulled the blond up and kissed him desperately. It was only when Draco's erection brushed against him that Harry realised that Draco was still in his boxers. He suddenly had a desperate need to see Draco with absolutely nothing on. Without warning, Harry flipped them over, immediately attacking Draco's nipples. Draco gasped loudly and tensed, his breathing becoming erratic. Harry spared a moment to look up, and saw to his horror that Draco seemed to be having a panic attack. 

Harry moved up his body and kissed his forehead. "I'm sorry, Draco. I shouldn't have been so abrupt. It's just me, love. I would never hurt you. You know this."

Draco's eyes fluttered open and he blinked up at Harry. "Harry?" he asked, dazed. 

"Yes, it's me, Draco," Harry said soothingly, stroking Draco's hair. "Do you want to continue?"

Draco blinked a few more times before swallowing thickly. "Of course, I do. Just… don't surprise me like that. I thought that you-"

"Yes, I'm sorry, Draco. I won't do that again. I promise."

Draco nodded quickly and took Harry in a kiss. "I trust you. Do what you want."

Harry shivered for the second time, and set about relieving Draco of the rest of his clothes. Once again, he sat back and stared at his boyfriend. Draco was breathing erratically under the scrutiny, and Harry nervously reached out and touched Draco's erection. "You're beautiful," Harry whispered shakily, gripping it firmly and sliding his hand up and down. Draco whimpered and threw his head back, lost in the sensation. When Harry drew his hand back, Draco's hands flew forward and began feeling the curves and hard lines of Harry's body. Harry did the same for Draco, and he thought that he might just drown in the sensations. 

Their movements became blurred once more as they explored one another. Minutes later, much by accident, Harry felt his own erection rub against Draco's, and it sent sparks of pure pleasure through his body. "Oh," he moaned, and did it again. Draco's legs wrapped around his waist, and they began moving together with increasing need. Harry was fairly certain that he would not last much longer at this rate, but he was too far gone to care anymore. He needed release, and he did not care if this was not how they were supposed to do it. 

"Draco… oh, God, I love you. I need…. I'm going to…"

Draco pulled Harry's head down and kissed him hard. Harry's body tensed and he came with a keening cry. His body shuddered over and over, before collapsing on top of Draco. "Oh," Harry moaned incoherently. It took a few minutes for Harry to regain his breath and senses, but when he did, he became highly aware of Draco's erection sticking into his stomach. 

"Oh, I'm sorry. I should have waited," he mumbled. 

Draco chuckled. "It's okay, Harry. I forgive you," he joked and kissed Harry slowly and lovingly. Harry rolled to the side and with all shyness gone, used his hand on Draco. Draco turned on his side to face Harry and jerked and moved into his hand. He began mumbling and crying out incoherently, and Harry really could not be sure what was being said. He was certain he heard his own name and maybe 'love' but all he cared about was staring at Draco as he squeezed his silver eyes shut, and let his mouth fall open, small pants coming from him.

Harry was mesmerized.

He experimented, and went faster. Draco made delightful sounds and bit into Harry's neck. Harry wanted to see what would happen if he squeezed tighter, and Draco sucked in a breath, and yelled out as he came over Harry's hand. 

When the aftershocks of his orgasm subsided, Draco pulled Harry flush to his body and kissed him passionately. "I love you, Harry. You… thank you." Draco sighed as he collected what coherent thoughts he still had. "You're magnificent. I am never _ever_ going to let you go now."

Harry kissed Draco's cheek. "I love you, too. And that is quite nice to hear. I wouldn't let you if you tried. That was a very nice distraction, by the way. It wasn't what I had in mind, but it was effective and fun."

Draco smiled lazily. "Shut up, Potter. I'm tired, and I don't want to listen to you ramble on."

Harry hummed softly in contentment and amusement, but did not say anything more. Within minutes, both boys had fallen fast asleep in each other's arms. 

****

Harry only woke twice during the night, and the first time, he only spared time to use his wand to clean up their mess. The second time, he sat up to pull the blankets over their bodies. Draco was sleeping peacefully with his arms above his head. Harry studied him for a few moments before lying back down with his head on Draco's chest and falling back to sleep. 

When morning came and Harry began to stir, he guessed it could not have been any later than six in the morning. The couple had already been asleep for ten hours, so Harry was feeling distinctly rested, and not to mention aroused. Draco's hand was around his erection again and moving languidly up and down. Harry groaned. "This is a pleasant way to wake up."

"You were poking me," Draco murmured, leaning over to kiss Harry's neck. "I can't say I was all too comfortable with that. I was trying to sleep, you little idiot."

"Sorry," Harry gasped, as Draco ran a thumb over the tip. 

"Were you dreaming of me?"

"It's entirely possible, yes. You're… you're talking way too much, Draco."

"I can take a hint, as subtle as it was," Draco smiled. 

Then, right before Harry's eyes, Draco moved down the bed, and took Harry fully into his mouth. Harry gasped. He wanted to close his eyes, but he could not get himself to look away. He had never seen or felt anything so arousing in his entire life. Much too soon, he felt himself releasing into Draco's mouth. 

Draco looked up triumphantly, licking his lips, and wiping his chin clean. "I've never done that before. Did I… well, did I do it right?"

Harry still felt his mouth hanging open, but he managed to close it before answering. "If that was wrong, I don't want to know the right way."

Draco grinned foolishly. "Somehow, you're even cuter after you've had an orgasm."

"Yes, well, remind me how cute you are after you have an orgasm," Harry whispered seductively, and moved down the bed. 

They woke from a sluggish sleep an hour later to the sounds of Harry's dorm mates waking for the day. Harry groaned. "The charms must be wearing off," he muttered, burrowing himself further against Draco's body. 

"Probably," Draco said groggily, throwing an arm over his eyes. "I'm starving. Why didn't we go to dinner again last night?"

"We were having sex," Harry informed him helpfully. 

"Oh, yes. We should probably –"

"Oi! Harry!" Ron's voice broke through the curtains and he flung them open. The boys both groaned as light from the window streamed into their sanctuary. "Oh, God!" Ron moaned piteously, as he looked down at Harry and Draco. "Put something over yourselves!" He spun around on his heel as his face turned an alarming shade of red. 

Harry looked down to himself, but found the sheet was helpfully covering anything Ron might not want to see, but Draco was lying on top of the sheets, baring all. 

"Wow," Seamus whispered, staring at them with wide eyes from behind Ron. 

"Seamus!" Ron admonished. "Turn the bloody hell around."

Harry hurriedly covered Draco. "It's okay. I covered him."

Ron stayed resolutely where he was. "I didn't know you two were actually having sex," he said embarrassed. 

"What do you expect, Weasley? We've been together for a year this coming Christmas. Of course, we've had sex. More times than we can count. We shag like rabbits. In fact, close the curtains so that I can have another go."

"Ugh," Ron groaned, and dropped his head in his hands. "You can't. Well, I suppose you can, but breakfast will be starting in ten minutes if you want to go. You weren't at dinner last night, and Hermione will yell at me if I don't tell you the news on Hagrid."

Harry sat up in a flash, pulling the sheets off of Draco again. He squawked indignantly and burrowed lower in the bed. "Sorry," Harry apologised quickly. "What news on Hagrid?"

"The Order found him about five kilometres from here, near some Muggle town. He's in the infirmary right now, but we're not allowed to see him quite yet. McGonagall came to the Common Room this morning to see if anybody was up and Hermione's nearly always up around six, and she told her. They suspect that Hagrid will be fine."

Harry sighed in relief and lay back down. "That's good news. Did McGonagall say what kind of injuries he had?"

Ron shook his head. "No. She only said that he's safe and in the infirmary. Look, I'm going to go down to the Common Room, and leave you two to what you two… do." Ron scurried from the room, leaving Seamus staring at them. Draco looked up from his burrow of blankets, and glared. Harry grinned foolishly at the blonde's messy bed head. 

"Finnigan, if you tell anybody about this, I'll personally hex your balls off. I don't fancy losing my Head Boy position."

Seamus held his hands up, and finally turned away. "I wouldn't dream of it. I'll just… leave now."

The pair watched Seamus leave, before closing the curtains again. They lay in bed for a few minutes before deciding to get up and take a shower. They took one separately so that it would go faster, and made it to the Great Hall just as the morning post was being delivered to the students. Draco decided to sit at the Slytherin table that morning, so he kissed Harry and they separated ways. Hermione was just unrolling the Prophet when Harry sat next to her. 

"Anything interesting?" he asked, scooping porridge into a bowl. 

"Hmm," Hermione scanned the front page. "Yes. There's an article on the strange behaviour of magical creatures. There have been sightings of creatures that aren't native to England, and… oh my goodness. Just last night, there have been two deaths and one disappearance. Two wizards died from a Lethifold attack. By the time their family found them, they had already suffocated, but they managed to cast a Patronus, to scare the Lethifolds away from the bodies. Well," Hermione sighed, "at least they still have the bodies to bury. They never would have found out what happened if they hadn't found them in time."

Harry set his spoon into his bowl, suddenly losing his appetite. "This is entirely my fault," he muttered unhappily. "I never should have let the orb out of my possession."

Hermione, who did not know the entire story, sighed unhappily and turned the page of the _Prophet_. "We'll get through this, Harry. We always do."

"Maybe so, but those wizards who died didn't make it through because of me."

"Don't think on it, mate," Ron piped up from across the table. "There's not much you can do about it now, is there? Besides, you should just concentrate on going to see Hagrid today. McGonagall told us just before you showed up that we're allowed to see him after breakfast, since we don't have class right now."

Harry brightened, but only a little. "So, he's well enough for us to see?"

"Yeah," Ron said around a mouthful of eggs. Hermione rolled her eyes at him. "I don't think he was hurt too badly. I think he was more upset that his precious spiders turned on him. Anyway, you know how he is about monsters."

Harry nodded as he grabbed for a piece of toast, and put porridge on top and ate it. Ron made a face at him, but only continued eating. When Harry finished his toast, he stood, brushing the crumbs from the front of his robes. "I'm heading to the infirmary if you two want to come along. If not, I'll see you there."

Ron informed them that he wanted to finish eating before he went, but Hermione folded up her paper and followed Harry out. Draco caught up with them as soon as they began ascending the stairs. "Want to skive off from wherever you're going and do something with me, Harry? I don't really feel like going to History of Magic today."

"Draco!" Hermione admonished. "Honestly, you're Head Boy. Set an example!"

"I would love to," Harry hurriedly cut in, "but we're going to see Hagrid right now. I'll see you at lunch. Will you sit with me?"

Draco kissed Harry thoroughly. "Mais, naturellement, Mon amour, » he whispered seductively, and walked away. 

"Oh, how romantic," Hermione gushed. "I sometimes wish Ron could speak French to me."

"I didn't know Draco spoke French," Harry said dumbly, as Draco turned a corner and disappeared. "Do you know what he said, Hermione?"

"Well, his last name _is_ French, Harry," Hermione informed him, continuing her way to the infirmary again. "I would suspect his parents had him learn it as a child. Plus, that's what most, if not all, aristocratic families do for their children, you realise. I wouldn't be surprised if he knew more than just French."

"Thanks for the lesson, Hermione," Harry sighed, smiling just a little. "But, what did he say to me?"

"Oh, he said, 'but, naturally, my love.'"

Harry grinned slightly, and picked up his pace, feeling decidedly good about the day ahead of him. Hermione laughed as she sped to catch up. When they reached the infirmary, they found that Hagrid was not the only patient. Sirius was sitting on a bed, looking freshly washed, and slightly pink in the cheeks. 

"Sirius!" Harry exclaimed, rushing forward. "How are you feeling? I haven't seen you out of your room for a while. There's nothing wrong, is there?"

Sirius chuckled and pulled Harry to sit next to him. "No, there's nothing wrong with me. I just heard about Hagrid and thought I'd come see how he is. He's just stepped into the bathroom at the moment. How's school going, Harry?"

"It's all right. Are you coming back soon?"

"Whenever the Headmaster seems to think I'm ready, I suppose. Have you seen your father, lately?"

"No, he hasn't come by since that last time."

Sirius nodded sadly. "I've been hoping to see him. Well… perhaps I'll just owl him, then."

Harry noticed vaguely that Hermione was shifting from foot to foot anxiously. He looked to her with an eyebrow raised in question. She swallowed before speaking. "Have you really seen your father lately, Harry?"

"Yes," Harry said slowly. "He's been around. Why?"

"Oh, I… there's no reason." She looked to her watch with exaggerated motions. "Oh, no! I was supposed to meet the Headmaster after breakfast and it ended a few minutes ago. I er- need to go before I'm late. Tell Hagrid I'll be by later, Harry."

Harry watched her rush by Ron, who was just coming into the infirmary. Ron called after her, but she did not answer. "What's up with her?" Ron asked curiously, pointing over his shoulder with his thumb. 

"I have no idea," Harry admitted. "She never said to me that she had a meeting with the Headmaster."

"Me either," Ron said, furrowing his brow. "Hey, Sirius," he greeted cheerfully. "All right, there?"

Sirius nodded, smiling, just as Hagrid came from the bathroom in horrid looking brown pyjamas. As usual, he looked too large to be indoors, and his voice was just a touch too loud when he spoke. "'Ello, 'Arry, Ron! 'Ope you two didn't worry too much abou' me," he chuckled. "Those Acromantula lost interest in me long before any o' the Order found me."

While Harry was relieved that Hagrid was okay, he still could not shake the feeling that it was entirely his fault. The Gryffindor just hoped that this would the last incident that he felt like that had his very own dark mark branded into it. Harry shivered, and continued visiting good-naturedly with Hagrid. 


	11. Christmas

**A/N:** First, I would just like to apologize for the awful wait for this chapter. Real life has been so terribly busy and I've had to rewrite 10-12 if you remember. I am putting a fire under chapter 12 so that it will be done ASAP.  
Secondly, thank you to my wonderful, wonderful beta, PadfootsBitch for whipping this chapter into shape. Rewriting these chapters has been extremely difficult for me.   
Last, but not least, a HUGE thank you to my reviewers at both ff.net and Schnoogle for the continued support. Rest assured I am not abandoning this trilogy. After all, this fic is more or less finished.

* * *

**Remember You**  
_Chapter Eleven_

As December rolled by, the clouds opened up and did not stop snowing until a few days before the end of term exams. Hagrid could be seen outside every day, shovelling paths for the students to his hut and to the greenhouses. There was hardly any time for the students to play in the snowball-worthy snow, so there were not any other tracks except for these trails. Students were, more often than not, holed up in the library or in the Common Rooms, studying for their exams. Hermione often did not socialize anymore, as she was wont to remind her friends that the N.E.W.T's were only six months away. 

At least Harry had started to think seriously about these exams. They would decide the rest of his life, and if Harry had anything to do with it, he would be an Auror. It was the one profession that interested him, and if he were truthful with himself, the only profession in which he could succeed. Draco sometimes pushed Quidditch magazines at him, pointing to articles about the professional teams looking for new, young talent. Harry obliged him by looking at them, but did not seriously think about playing Quidditch. It did not seem like the life he wanted to lead. 

In matters concerning Draco, Harry became increasingly worried. Draco had started acting strange whenever he was around the Gryffindor. He would become jumpy, and his hand would immediately go to the breast pocket of his robes, as if trying to calm his erratic heart. At other times, when they would be sharing an intimate moment, Draco would smile at him, even sometimes blush, and place his hand over his breast pocket. These actions were in complete contrast to each other, and it left Harry bewildered. 

Since the Acromantula had left the forest, the _Prophet_ had continued to write reports on the mysterious deaths and disappearances that were happening; events that now were affecting the Muggle world. Harry started to feel the heavy weight of guilt bring him down, and it was hard to be in a good mood at all anymore. He just wanted it to be over already. 

But, as fate would have it, three days before exams started, it proved to be that the ending would not come for quite a while. It was a Saturday morning, and Harry was calmly eating his breakfast when Draco bounded over to the Gryffindor table. The blond draped himself around Harry's shoulders and gave him a small, sucking kiss on his neck. 

"How's my favourite Gryffindork this fine morning?" he asked, plucking a piece of bacon from Harry's plate. 

"All right, I suppose. I think I could have done with a visit from my favourite Slytherin last night, though," Harry pouted, taking the half of bacon that Draco had yet to eat, and popped it in his own mouth. Draco pouted, and took another piece, and took a bite. Harry stole that half, too, and grinned innocently as he chewed. 

"I'll visit you tonight if you quit stealing my bacon."

Harry raised his brow. "I'll remind you that it's _my_ plate that you're stealing from, Malfoy."

"You know the saying, Potter: what's yours is mine." Draco punctuated this statement by taking another piece of bacon and stuffing it into his mouth whole. 

"Actually, it's: what's mine is yours."

"Exactly," Draco smiled beatifically, and took Harry's last remaining piece of bacon. 

"It goes both ways, Draco," Harry smiled. "Give me that piece of chocolate I know you have in your pocket."

Draco huffed. "How did you know if I have chocolate in my pocket?"

"I see you stuff a sweet in your pocket every morning when we're together. You alternate. One day, it's a chocolate frog, the next, a cockroach cluster, the next a blood pop. I just happen to know that today is your chocolate frog day. Now, hand it over. You took all my bacon."

Draco pouted, reached into his pocket and pulled out a chocolate frog. Harry smiled. "Now if you're polite, I'll let you have its legs."

Draco crossed his arms over his chest. "That's not the same, Harry."

"And if you stop pouting, I'll give you anything you want today… except for this frog."

Draco brightened immediately. "Actually, there is a point for me coming over here. I thought it would be difficult to get you to agree, but now that you say that, I'll just come right out and say it. I want you to join Severus and me for tea. He's feeling much better now, and he says he would like to see me."

"And I'm sure he means you and only you."

Draco waved him off. "Not necessarily. You're coming with me. You said you would give me anything I wanted today, and I want you to come to tea with me."

Harry sighed. "Fine, I'll come. You're lucky I love you."

Draco smiled. "Meet me at three in front of Severus's chambers." Then he was gone just as quickly as he came. 

"You two are so adorable," Hermione simpered from beside Harry. 

"Funny. I'd use the word, 'sickening'," Ron quipped. 

Harry grinned at him. "Still sore at seeing us naked, are you, Ron?"

"Don't remind me, please."

Harry grinned harder. "I'm going to the library to do some homework. Will I see you there, Hermione?"

"Homework?" Ron gasped indignantly. "Harry, have you gone mad?"

"No, Ron, I haven't. I have a lot to do, and I need to study. You know how I want to be an Auror."

"You act as though it's the end of the world," Hermione admonished Ron. "But, Harry, I will be there in an hour or so. I have a few things that need to be done."

Harry stood. "Okay. See you later then. Oh, and remember not to tell Draco about the Auror thing. He's a bit weird about that."

Both of his friends agreed, so Harry left, feeling only a little guilty that he was keeping secrets from his boyfriend. 

Three o'clock came too early for Harry's taste, but he gathered his books and parchment up at the appropriate time, and took his leave of Hermione. She wished him luck as he slipped away from their table. Draco was waiting patiently outside the portrait that hid the professor's chambers, and he smiled when he saw Harry. 

"You've been studying in the library all day? It looks like Granger is rubbing off on you."

"I don't need Hermione to push me to study," Harry said indignantly. 

Draco rolled his eyes, quietly said the password and let himself in. Harry followed reluctantly. It had been quite some time since he had been in the Potions Master's private chambers, and it made him a bit nervous. 

Snape was tending to the fire when they entered and he looked up. "Ah, I was wondering when you would arrive, Dra –" Snape noticed Harry then and sneered. "I see you've brought company then."

"Yes, Severus, but I've told you before that you'll have to get used to him. We're moving in together after Hogwarts."

"Among other things," Snape muttered. 

Harry furrowed his brow, setting his bag on the floor by the door. "I won't be a bother, Professor. I came because Draco wanted me here."

"Indeed," Snape scowled. "Well, sit down then. The tea should be here any moment."

Draco and Harry chose seats on the couch while the professor sat in a comfortable looking leather chair. Harry shifted uncomfortably under his black eyes, but Draco looked very proud of himself. "I better not find that you've brought your pathetic excuse for a father here, Potter." Snape broke the silence. 

Draco immediately became stony faced. Harry hardly flinched. "I'll have you know that I didn't. And you have no right to say what sort of father he is. You wouldn't know, would you… sir?"

"I'd rather not talk about a subject that doesn't exist… at least not in this world," Draco said crisply. Luckily, at that moment, a house elf brought a tray of tea and biscuits, and they busied themselves with it. 

Once they all had a cup of tea, and Draco had eaten half a biscuit, Draco set down his tea, and looked pointedly to his godfather. "So, Severus, how are you feeling lately? I hope you're feeling up to teaching classes again. That dope they got from the Ministry hardly knows what he's talking about."

"Workers from the Ministry rarely do, do they?" Snape said scornfully. "I hope to be back after the holidays. The Headmaster believes that both Black and I, while still suffering from some sort of affliction, will be fit to do so then. I will be happy to get back into my classroom. I cringe to think of the state the storerooms are most certainly in."

"They don't look so bad to me," Harry said, then hid behind his cup of tea when Snape glared at him. 

The group fell into silence once again, but Harry could hardly keep quiet when he wanted to ask a question. After finishing his tea, he set the cup down gingerly. "Sir? I have a question for you. I'll understand if you don't want to answer, but… hearing Sirius talk about it, it's made me wonder if the same is happening to you."

"Well, spit it out, boy."

"Er – well, Sirius said that ever since he's fallen ill, it feels like he's got two Siriuses in his mind. One is himself, as he's always known himself, but there is another. That one he doesn't know, and it tells him things that his normal self knows aren't true. Sirius doesn't like to talk about it anymore, though. I don't know if the "other Sirius" has gone away, or what's going on."

"I can understand his position. Who really wants to talk about how he thinks he is going mad?" Snape sighed and looked at Draco. "Draco and I have spoken about this in small detail. The same has happened to me. There are times when I feel like myself, like such as right now, but there are others when I feel like I'm completely different, with different memories. I know your father isn't alive, Potter. But, I know I saw him, and I've done as much as I can to figure out just what I saw, but I can't figure it out. It's mostly because that other part with different memories doesn't think it's so strange to see James Potter walking and talking again."

Harry looked down and stared at his lap. "But, I don't think it's strange that I've seen my father _and_ my mother."

"I cannot explain why you would think that it's normal. All that I can gather is that somehow, the Dark Lord is behind all of this. I don't understand why or even how, but it's the only explanation I can devise."

Harry suddenly felt very depressed. He did not want to speak of this anymore. "Speaking of him," he changed the subject. "What's he got up his sleeve lately? Nobody has told me anything."

"That is because there is nothing to tell that you don't already know. What we have gathered, which is not much, since we no longer have any spies with him, is that he has rallied magical creatures from all over the world. There are some giants who have joined him willingly, some who have joined our side. We can only guess what he'll be doing ne–."

A loud beeping cut off Snape is mid-sentence. They all jumped slightly, and Snape's and Draco's faces immediately whitened at the sound of it. "What's going on?" Harry asked as Snape jumped up and went to the mantle. Harry noticed a wizarding radio sitting on the corner. It was from where the beeping was coming. Snape turned the radio on, but at the moment, there was only a commercial. 

"Wizarding radios beep whenever there's an emergency or an important message," Draco whispered, grabbing Harry's hand. "It rarely ever happens, and when it does, it's not good. 

Suddenly, a woman's strong, commanding voice sounded throughout the room. "This is your Wizarding Wireless Network with an important announcement. Please stand by."

"They usually wait a few minutes so that they have everybody's attention that is by a radio," Draco explained. 

Draco's face suddenly looked drawn and tired. Harry did not know what the big deal was, but he supposed he should have grown up in the wizarding world to understand what exactly was going on. 

The commanding voice suddenly filled the room. "Again, this is your Wizarding Wireless Network with breaking news. This just in: the Ministry of Magic is under siege. He Who Must Not Be Named, himself, is reported to be there. Magical creatures are swarming the building. Dementors are wreaking havoc. Please, do not panic. The Minister of Magic left on urgent business this morning, and is in Paris. Please, do not panic."

Snape turned off the radio as the announcer continued speaking, and sat heavily in his chair. The group sat in horrified silence for a few minutes. Draco slid into Harry's embrace when Harry put his arm around his shoulders. "So, what happens now?" Draco asked meekly. 

"Well, I suspect that the survivors of the attack will be moved to other Headquarters. I would be very surprised if the Minister was not placed right here in Hogwarts. While our Minister might be an idiot, he's developed good relationships with other countries. There will probably be help coming our way."

Snape sighed, getting up and opening a small cupboard near his bedroom door. From it, he pulled a bottle of Firewhiskey. Draco watched hungrily as Snape mixed the whiskey with some tea. The blond poured himself some more tea, and innocently held out his cup. Snape sent him a withering glare. "If we were not at Hogwarts, you know I would give you some." Draco sulked against Harry. 

Harry squeezed Draco gently. "This means it's coming soon, doesn't it?" he asked with a note of resignation. Draco looked up at him questioningly, but Harry stared determinedly at Snape. 

"We could never tell, Potter." Snape took a long drink. "In my opinion, I'd say it's just the beginning of the last battle. Best be prepared."

Harry nodded slightly, and leaned his head on Draco's. His heart felt heavy with trepidation. 

The Christmas holidays descended upon the school like a heavy blanket. Students left in fear of what they would find upon returning home. The students who stayed feared that not all was well at home. Harry and Draco were two of these few students, though neither of them had any big worries. Draco knew that his mother would be taken care of, and Harry knew that his relatives living in the Muggle world would be all right for the time being. 

Ron and Hermione both chose to go home to spend time with their families. The Weasleys had invited Harry to stay with them, but Draco was not allowed to leave the castle, so Harry decided to stay with him. 

Harry sometimes wondered if this was a good decision. As Christmas neared, Draco became increasingly edgy, and avoided Harry at all costs. Harry had snuck up on Draco at breakfast on Christmas Eve, only to have him scurry from the Great Hall as fast as his legs could carry him. Snape, who had emerged from his rooms for breakfast, had a good time snickering over Harry's crestfallen face. 

Because of Draco's hasty departure, Harry spent the day with a few first-years, playing in the snow. They made snow angels and snow wizards and even fashioned a sled and went sliding down a hill. By the time Harry came in for dinner, he was soaked right through to his skin. 

If he had expected Draco to be at dinner, he was sorely disappointed. He was conspicuously absent from the Great Hall. After dinner, Harry made his way back to the Gryffindor Common room with a heavy heart. After he changed into warm clothes, he grabbed a book and went to sit in front of the fire. 

Half an hour into his reading, he was interrupted when the portrait hole opened. "Hey, Potter, where in Merlin's name have you been?" Harry whipped his head around to look at Draco. 

"Where have I been? You're the one who ran away from me this morning. Do you think I'd just sit around and sulk about it all day?"

Draco stole Harry's book as he sat down, and threw it onto the coffee table. "Well, no, but I thought you'd at least come and find me in our room."

"You were acting funny. What was I supposed to think? What's going on with you anyway?"

Draco looked into Harry's eyes nervously. "Nothing," he licked his lips. "I've just been thinking a lot."

"Oh? About what?"

"You. Will you let me touch you tonight?" Harry blinked. "Is that what you're nervous about?"

"No. I just want to tie you up and give you the best blow job I've ever given." Draco made a face as though he had just eaten a lemon.

Harry was sceptical. "_Do_ you?"

"Um… I want to do _something_ for you. But, maybe not that," he added quickly. Draco ran his fingers through Harry's hair. "It's um… well, I've been reading on techniques in that book your dear godfather gave you," he said shyly. "And anyway, we haven't done anything in a week. I'm sure you're dying here, Potter."

"And you would know?" Harry smirked. 

Draco climbed into Harry's lap and kissed him. "Please, Harry? It will be so nice to wake up naked with you in the morning, don't you think?"

Harry pretended to heave a resigned sigh and nodded his head. "All right, I give."

Draco smiled beatifically. He kissed Harry and then led him upstairs. Neither noticed Austin and Sierra glaring after them. 

Harry awoke on Christmas morning to sounds of ripping paper and the sun streaming in on his face. He blearily pushed on his glasses and leaned over the side of the bed, looking at Draco, who was happily opening his presents. The Gryffindor watched in amusement as the blond opened the gift from him. Draco stood up and Harry took note that he was wearing Harry's dirty boxers from the day before. 

"Oh, Harry!" Draco exclaimed, noticing that he was now awake. "I love them! Where are my socks?" Draco scrounged for his socks in the pile of clothes on the floor, and after putting them on, sat back on the floor to pull on the dragon hide boots Harry had given him. There were two-inch heels, now the "in vogue" of popular wizard fashion. The boots were such a dark green that they appeared almost black. Draco stood once more and walked around the room. The heels clicked on the floor, and Draco looked positively gleeful. 

"Not only will I be the same height as you, or taller, I'll be able to stomp on people's toes with the heels! Thank you, Harry! I love them!"

Harry grunted as he was presented with a bone-crushing hug. "Come on, Harry, you have tonnes of presents, too. Can you believe that Weasley got me a present? It was some cockroach clusters and some rubbish on the Chudley Cannons. I can't believe he likes them. Anyway, I want to see you open your presents."

Harry rolled out of bed, put on Draco's boxers and began opening his presents. Draco munched on his candy, watching Harry with an odd glow in his eyes. When Harry had made it through all his gifts, he realised that there had not been one from Draco. He shifted through all the wrapping paper, slightly confused. "Draco? Didn't you get me a present?"

Draco nodded vigorously. "Yes, I did. I… I just…" Draco looked up at him with wet, tortured eyes. "I'm not a bloody Gryffindor, Harry."

Harry blinked. "I know you're not, Draco. What does that have to do with my present?"

"It's more than a present, Harry. I need to get the courage to give it to you. It'll humiliate me if you don't like it."

"Draco, if it's that big of a problem, then don't worry about it. I'll wait for it, all right?" Draco nodded, letting out a relieved laugh. "Besides," Harry began crawling through the wrinkled wrapping paper predatorily, "I'd rather have you than any present you could give me."

Draco swallowed. "Oh," he whispered. Harry gave a feral grin, and pounced. When Draco was laid on his back, he broke away from the passionate kiss and gasped, "But I have my boots on."

"Leave them on," Harry hissed, suckling on Draco's neck. 

Draco lowered his head to the stone floor, and he let out a strangled breath. "Oh."

Before the holidays ended, Dumbledore announced to the staff and the few students who stayed that there would be a few departments of the Ministry of Magic moving into the castle. The attack on the Ministry had been successful for the Dark side, though they failed in killing the Minister, as Fudge was out of the country at the time. For the most part, the Ministry kept out of the students' way, and Harry rarely saw any Ministry officials coming and going to work. 

When Hermione returned, she questioned Professor McGonagall on the situation, but the professor stayed tight lipped. Hermione hypothesized that Hogwarts was only one of the many places where the Ministry was now stationed. They could not very well hold all of the Ministry of Magic, so Hermione said they were probably stationed throughout the U.K. 

January passed in a blur of books, the library, cold rain, and passionate snoggings and sex for Harry. For him, he could not remember a time when he had been so happy, despite all the terrible circumstances. Draco made him happy when things were looking grim. 

Draco, however, still had not given him his Christmas present. Harry had long since stopped asking about it, as Draco tended to run away if he was confronted. 

"So, has Draco given you your present yet?" Ron asked as a way to procrastinate. Hermione glared at him from over her books, but did not say anything. 

They were sitting in the Common Room, studying for Transfigurations. Harry and Hermione were the only ones taking it seriously at the moment. Harry glanced up briefly. "No, he hasn't. I haven't even asked him about it lately. He gets scared and runs from me every time."

"What a coward," Ron harrumphed. 

"He's not a Gryffindor," Harry reminded him, smiling lightly. 

"No kidding."

"You sod off! You don't even exist, so you don't have any right to tell me who I –"

The trio looked to each other as Draco's voice reverberated into the Common Room. "Er – I'll just go see what's going on," Harry muttered, embarrassed. 

Harry opened the portrait hole and saw Draco breathing heavily, staring down the hallway. "Draco? What are you doing?"

The blond turned around. "Bloody Austin. Just don't worry about it, Harry. I've decided that I'm going to give you your present now."

Harry's eyes brightened. "Really?"

"Yes, so, get your cloak. We're going outside."

Harry ran inside the Common Room and up to the boys' dorm. When he ran past Ron and Hermione, he sent them a large grin. "He's giving me my present!" he called. They waved as Harry climbed out the portrait hole. 

"So, where are we going?"

"I just thought we'd go for a walk. It doesn't matter where." Draco took his hand and they made their way outside in silence. The sun was beginning to set in the horizon as they began a short hike around the lake, hand in hand. When they had been walking for ten minutes around the lake, Draco stopped and turned his face to the sun, drinking in the weak winter light. 

"So, what's this gift that you have to take me all the way out here?" Harry inquired, joining his hands around Draco's waist. 

"Shh, Harry. Just let me relax, and then we'll see what happens, okay?"

Though Harry was confused, he nodded slightly even though Draco had his eyes closed, and laid his head on Draco's shoulder. He liked that Draco was slightly taller than him with his new boots, so that it was not uncomfortable to be in this position. It was rather comfortable. 

Finally, after an interminable amount of time, Draco pulled away slightly and kissed Harry tenderly. "Do you still want to live with me after Hogwarts?" he asked uncertainly. 

"Yes, of course I do. You know I do, Draco."

The blond nodded tightly and looked down to the ground. He scratched his head, breathing deeply. "That was part of your present, but… it wasn't all of it, exactly."

"What do you mean?"

Draco looked back up into Harry's eyes and studied them for a moment. He nodded then, as if seeing something he wanted to see. Reaching into his breast pocket, he kneeled on one knee. "Draco, what are you doing?" Harry looked around and began to kneel as well. Draco reached out and pushed him back into a standing position, shaking his head tightly. 

"Stay standing," he commanded. 

Harry noticed that Draco's hand was clutched around something, but he did not want to pay attention to that. Despite the cold, Draco's forehead had broken out into a small sweat. Suddenly, Harry's left hand was in Draco's and Draco had placed a velvet pouch back into his breast pocket. Draco looked up at Harry, swallowing thickly. 

"You must think I'm absolutely mad right now," Draco chuckled nervously. "I think I might be, but…" He trailed off. "The truth is, is that I don't want to live with you as your boyfriend."

Harry felt his face whiten and his heart plummet into his stomach. "What? I… what?"

"No, I didn't mean it like that. I'm not breaking up with you, Harry, far from it." Draco sighed. "I'm bloody terrible at this stuff."

"Just don't think about it. Just say what's on your mind." Harry felt a bit bewildered by what was going on. Was this his gift? 

The Slytherin took a few seconds to compose himself and then looked up at Harry once more. "The fact of the matter is, Harry, is that I love you. I love you so much sometimes that I feel as if my very heart will burst. And when I think of what I'll be doing in the future, I see you there. 

"Harry, I need to know that you'll always be there. And… I know we're young and I'm probably out of my mind, but… I would be _so_ very, very happy if you would marry me."

Harry felt all his breath leave his chest in one puff as Draco slipped a white gold band on his finger. Their eyes met, and Harry felt all words leave him. The realisation of what Draco had given him for Christmas hit him like a lorry driving at full speed. 

Draco had given himself to Harry… forever. 

"You… you're proposing to me," Harry whispered, dumbstruck. 

Draco blushed furiously. "Yes, I am. I… will you marry me, Harry?"

"Yes," Harry answered immediately. He looked down to the ring on his finger and saw to his surprise that it was glowing gold, even though it was white gold. "It's glowing," he whispered. 

"That happens when the ring is accepted," Draco whispered, still kneeling on the ground. Harry fell to his knees as well, not caring that the ground was muddy. "It shall shine, even in the darkest and lightest of places." Draco blushed. "That's what it said next to the wizards' gold. It glows when it's accepted, and it tells the wearer that their partner still loves them and is alive. If it starts to dim, it'll either mean I don't love you anymore, or I'm dying."

"Draco," Harry whispered, "you just gave yourself to me for Christmas. Do you realise that?"

"Oh," Draco blushed again, "I didn't really think of it like that. Yeah… I suppose I did do that, didn't I?"

Harry let out a shaky laugh and kissed Draco tenderly. "I love you," he murmured. 

"And I love you."

Harry smiled softly at him, running his fingers through the blond hair. "Took you long enough to give me my present," he teased, and then cut off any protest Draco was about to give with a fierce kiss. Draco pulled Harry flush against him and deepened the kiss. They stayed locked together for interminable amount of time before Harry pulled away breathlessly. 

He smiled at Draco before looking down at his ring again. It was glowing brightly in the twilight, and for the first time, Harry noticed the five emeralds that were embedded along the top. "What about the Muggles though? I can't wear this around them."

"Don't be silly. They don't know enough to look, Harry. They'll look over it, even if they're holding your hand, staring at the ring."

"Okay, you're probably right. Don't you have one though?"

"Yes, I do. Do you want me to wear it?"

"I think you should, yes," Harry grinned. 

Draco reached into his breast pocket, pulling out a velvet pouch. He tipped it over and a ring fell onto his hand. Harry took it and gently placed it on Draco's finger. It immediately began to glow just as brightly as Harry's. "So you haven't been lying all this time about how much you love me," Draco teased. 

"Don't be so ridiculous," Harry chastised, and kissed him. "I think it's about time that we paid a special visit to our room, don't you think?"

"Oh, yes, it's long overdue."

Harry woke the next morning with another body planted firmly on top of his own. He opened blurry eyes and looked down to his chest where a curtain of blond hair was tickling his chest. He could feel a bit of drool on his nipple, but decided not to say anything about it, lest Draco try to spank him. 

Harry lifted his left hand to stare at the ring on his finger. It was glowing softly in the morning light, and Harry felt his heart expand to twice its normal size. He was so happy that it had not been a dream. It was reality, and it was _his_ reality. 

They had to set a date, he realised. They had to find a place to be married. They had to pick their groomsmen. Harry groaned. He knew he was not going to like planning a wedding, at all. But, then a horrible thought struck Harry, and it sent all thoughts of a wedding from his mind. 

The Muggle world did not recognise gay marriages. Would the wizarding world recognise it? Harry knew it should not matter if the government recognised their marriage. Draco would be his husband in his eyes, and nobody would stop that. He loved Draco and he was determined to spend the rest of his life with him. But, Harry thought, it would still be nice if their future binding was considered legal. 

Draco gave a soft snore, making Harry smile. He began running his fingers through the blond hair. Harry would fight for the right to be married, if he had to. 

Harry hated to wake Draco, but his body was falling asleep under his weight, and besides that, Harry wanted to go tell Sirius and Remus the good news. "Draco," he shook his shoulder. "Wake up, mon amour," he smiled, remembering the now many times when Draco had said the same thing to him. 

Draco woke with a large intake of breath and stretched. "Your French accent is atrocious, Potter," he said sleepily. 

"Well, we have our whole life for you to teach me," Harry grinned foolishly. 

"Indeed," Draco agreed. "Even though I know you have terrible morning breath, I would like a kiss."

"You're such a charmer."

Harry kissed him anyway. 

"Anyway," Harry began, "we're going to see Sirius and Remus this morning to tell them the news."

Draco groaned and rolled off his fiancé. "I suppose I'll have to do it someday. Black won't kill me, will he?"

Harry rolled out of bed, shameless of the fact that he was stark naked. "I don't see why he would."

Draco hummed with content. "I could get used to that view every morning."

"Well, you'd have to even if you didn't want to." Harry shook his bum to punctuate his point. 

Draco laughed. "Have you no shame?"

"No. Now, get your lazy arse from bed. We have joyous news to spread."

A quarter of an hour later, Harry and Draco were knocking on Sirius's door. Remus, disguised as Maurice opened the door with a large, fake smile, but turned into a genuine smile once he saw his visitors. "Harry, Draco, what a pleasant surprise!"

"Hey, Remus," Harry smiled. "May we come in?"

"Of course, of course," Remus gestured them inside. As soon as the door was closed, Remus waved his wand over himself and morphed back into his normal self. "You two are positively glowing." Remus sniffed the air. "You smell like sex, too. Didn't you two shower? And aren't you aware that it's against school rules for students to have sex?" Remus eyed them warily. "What's the news?"

"Damn werewolf senses," Draco muttered and he and Harry grinned at each other. "Where's Professor Black?" Draco inquired, unable to fight the smile from his face. "Harry will want him here when we tell our news."

"He's in the shower, doing much better, might I add. He'll be back to classes soon. Have you two eaten breakfast? We're waiting on a house elf to bring it right now."

"No, we haven't. We came straight here."

"Lovely. Sit down, then," Remus gestured to the small table and conjured two more chairs for himself and Sirius. "I can't put my finger on it, but there's something different. I've always had a particularly strong sense for people's emotions, especially when they're feeling strongly about something. It's love you're both feeling, but, you always look like this when you're together. I can't…" Remus tapped his chin looking at them thoughtfully. 

"Perhaps it's those rings on their fingers, Remus," Sirius walked into the room. He grinned down at Harry and sat the same time a house elf popped into the room. "You two are engaged then?"

"That's it!" Remus exclaimed triumphantly. "Their auras have mingled together since last time I saw them. They've given themselves to each other. It happens when wizarding couples feel a strong pull together."

Harry looked down, blushing. "Yes, we've more or less given ourselves to each other. We're getting married."

"Excellent! Congratulations!" Sirius exclaimed, clapping Draco on the back, who was nearest. 

"Sirius and I have been speculating a lot about your relationship lately. We thought this might happen," Remus smeared marmalade onto his toast. "Congratulations. Have you set a date?"

"No, not yet," Draco said, pouring himself some orange juice. "I only just proposed last night."

"So, we have plenty of time," Harry smiled. "Besides, there are other things that need thinking about."

The group sobered immediately. "How are you getting along, Professor Black?" Draco inquired after a few moments. "Severus is getting better, though he knows there is something wrong with him still."

Sirius nodded. "I can feel something inside of me. It's trying to take over, but I'm stubborn if anything. Whatever it is, this… _entity_ is almost exactly like myself, but it's trying to push new memories into my mind. It makes it seem normal that James is walking around, if he really was the person I saw."

"Yes, I…" Draco looked at Harry guiltily, but continued. "I've actually had similar problems lately. I've had memories come to me of Harry's family, and of never growing up with my Father around because I have memories of him in prison. It feels like the memories are trying to take over, but I'm a bit stubborn too. I know they're not real so I push them out." Harry looked reproachfully at Draco, but the blond would not look at him. 

"I've had fake memories as well," Remus admitted, poking his spoon through his porridge. "I'm not a werewolf in them, so it's a bit harder to push it away when that's what I wish."

Harry sat silent through the conversation. He did not want to believe that his parents and siblings were not real. He did not want to believe that he was just an orphan. It hurt too much to believe. They were not fake memories. Harry was positive of it. 

A tapping at the window broke the oppressive silence. "Ah, the post is finally here," Remus commented and went to open the window. 

Two owls flew in. One sat on Remus's shoulder while the other barn owl flew to Draco. Draco shrugged when Harry inquired about it and took the letter from the owl's foot. The owl took flight and disappeared out the window as Draco tore through the plain wax seal. 

As soon as the envelope was open a purple light shot from within and hit Draco squarely in the chest. Harry shot up with a cry of alarm. Draco took in a shuddering breath, his eyes wide with shock, and froze. The light faded and he looked up at Harry. "Harry," he croaked out and fell stiffly from his chair onto the floor. 

Harry was by his side in an instant, feeling for a pulse. It was there, but it was weak. Remus was busy casting spells over him, of which Harry did not recognise. "What happened?" Harry cried out. 

"I don't know," Remus said. "We need to get him to the infirmary… quickly."

Harry wasted no time and scooped Draco into his arms and ran from the room, Sirius and Remus right behind him. As he ran, it seemed as though the hallways became longer, teasing him. He literally growled with frustration and ran faster though Draco was a dead weight in his arms. His arms were shaking in exertion and he was panting when he ran Draco into the infirmary, shouting for Madam Pomfrey. 

The nurse came running from her office within a moment, took one look at Draco and commanded Harry to put him on the nearest bed. "Move out of the way, Mr. Potter, or I will not be able to help him," she said sternly as Harry hovered over the bed. Sirius approached him and pulled him back from the bed. 

Harry stood close to Sirius and concentrated on the large hand holding onto his shoulder. He feared that if he moved away from Sirius's grip, he would go back to the bed and anger Madam Pomfrey further. Draco was still and his chest was not rising and falling as much as it should. Harry shifted from foot to foot in his agitation. 

Madam Pomfrey was performing spells over Draco's body with alarming speed, numbers and graphs showing up in the air that meant nothing to Harry, but must have meant something to her. The nurse's face was set grimly and she hurried from the room and returned a moment later with a towel and a vial of potion. 

Suddenly, the infirmary doors flew open, but Madam Pomfrey was the only one who did not let herself get distracted. She continued working over Draco with a feverish speed. Dumbledore and Remus, whom Harry had never noticed had gone somewhere else, entered the room. The Headmaster stopped beside Harry and looked on as Madam Pomfrey fought to save Draco. 

"Remus has showed me the letter, Harry," Dumbledore began soberly, handing the envelope to Harry. "Do not worry; there is no longer any harm to it. There is a small note inside that I am sure you would be interested in seeing."

Harry silently removed the piece of parchment inside and read. _With love, Lucius Malfoy_

"How could he do that?!" Harry demanded loudly. "To his own son?"

"I believe that we are well aware that Draco's relationship with his father is less than friendly these days, Harry," Dumbledore explained quietly. "Lucius is upset with Draco for betraying him."

"So, he sent him a curse by the post?" Harry shook his head, feeling his chest tighten up with worry. "I don't want him to die because his father is bitter."

"Madam Pomfrey is a competent nurse, Mr. Potter. Do not worry so."

Harry nodded weakly and leaned against Sirius's side. "I just don't want him to die," he murmured, looking at Draco morosely. He looked down to his ring, and his heart twisted in his chest. The ring was slowly losing its glow. "He's dying!" he cried out and tried to move forward but Sirius held him back. "No! Let go of me! My ring is fading and he told me that wizard's gold glows as long as your partner still loves you and is alive. He can't have fallen out of love with me. He's _dying_!"

"Harry, please calm down," Sirius soothed. 

"No!" Harry whimpered, still trying to get to Draco. "He needs me, Sirius! I won't say goodbye to him today. I won't let him go!"

Dumbledore laid a hand on his shoulder. "Harry, please. If you get in the way, Madam Pomfrey will not be able to save him."

"Headmaster!" Pomfrey called urgently. "I'll need your help. The spell I need to cast is too advanced and I know you can do it."

Dumbledore quickly approached the bed and conversed with Pomfrey in terse mutters. After a few tense moments, Dumbledore seemed to back away from Pomfrey, his normally twinkling eyes going dull. Harry strained his ears to hear. "Are you sure there isn't another way, Poppy?"

"I'm positive. You need to cast it within the next minute or we'll lose him. Casting it is worth the risk, Headmaster."

Dumbledore nodded his head soberly. "I'll do it then."

Harry watched anxiously as Dumbledore began chanting a phrase in Latin. A wind formed that nipped at everybody's robes and combed through their hair. It swirled around Dumbledore and Draco who both seemed to be unaffected by the wind. A rainbow of sparks began floating furiously on the current of air and when the Headmaster flicked his wand at Draco, the sparks were directed at his chest. Draco convulsed for nearly ten seconds and Sirius had to bind Harry with a spell to keep him from going anywhere. 

Abruptly, the spell was stopped and Draco fell limply to the bed. His head rolled to the side and his mouth was hanging open slightly. Harry could not see his chest moving at all. Dumbledore looked grim as Madam Pomfrey began casting spells again. "Poppy," Dumbledore began but trailed off. Pomfrey looked to him and he shook his head. She stepped away from Draco's bed. 

"What… is he alive?" Harry asked bleakly. 

Dumbledore walked back to Harry and released him from Sirius's spell. "We've done all we can, Harry. His heart has stopped but his brain is still functioning, so… he is still alive. The spell I just cast is likely to either revive his heart or kill his brain waves altogether. The magic will move through his veins and decide what it can do. If it decides that he's beyond repair… it will let him die peacefully. All we can do is wait."

Harry felt his lip tremble violently. "No," he whispered. "I…"

"You may go sit with him."

Harry looked to his ring as he slowly approached Draco's bed. The light was barely visible now and he bit his lip. It was painful to look at Draco like this. His body was still and Harry thought that he may as well be dead with how still and peaceful he seemed. Harry shook his head violently and laid his head against Draco's shoulder, his face turned into his neck. It was disconcerting, not hearing a pulse, and Harry violently fought off the tears that were threatening. 

"Don't leave me, Draco," he whispered. "Not now. I need you. Stay with me, please. Don't let your father beat you."

* * *

**A/N:** Um, sorry about that cliffhanger. This is why I am putting a fire under chapter 12. I don't want to leave you hanging for as long as I did for this chapter. And now to answer a few questions, because I don't have time to answer all reviews. :D

_ladysilvrene_: To be honest, I can't remember if there was a time when Harry held back in the first fic, because it was so long ago that I wrote/read it. If there was, I'm fairly certain that it was because Draco seemed scared or because he just didn't want to move things too quickly in their relationship.  
_Wynter Flame_: No, I can't answer whether Harry's family are corporeal or not. You'll just have to wait and find out! :)  
_NayNymic_: I didn't mean for that scene to be anti-climactic. I said 'sex' because I didn't want to be literal in my teaser by saying something like, 'Up next: hand job!' If you think about it, Draco would never have had sex straight away. He needs to build up to it. BUT, the actual sex scene is still to come in the fic. So, no need to worry about that.  
_Sailor Grape_: huggles I always enjoy reading your reviews! Thanks for coming back and sorry that I didn't get this one out quick enough! 


	12. The Chase

**A/N:** I cannot even begin to apologize enough for this delay. I really have no good excuse except that I've been uber-busy with school, work, and just plain, old life. It's already been tough enough getting this chapter up what with my computer contracting yet another virus. I'm debating whether I should take it into Best Buy tomorrow after school. Stupid thing. At any rate, I truly am sorry for this delay, and I will try harder. I have just sent the next chapter to my beta, and she will get it through as quickly as life will let her. Please don't hate me for the delay. Life's a bitch. What can I say?  
Also, please bear with me through this chapter. I know I had a better explanation for the spell Dumbledore used on Draco before my old disk ate the chapters, but I couldn't remember for the life of me. I'm sorry if you think anything in this chapter is lame. I promise that it will get better.  
Much love to my reviewers and to my beta for your unending patience with me.

* * *

**Remember You**  
_Chapter Twelve_

_Harry looked to his ring as he slowly approached Draco's bed. The light was barely visible now and he bit his lip. It was painful to look at Draco like this. His body was still and Harry thought that he may as well be dead with how still and peaceful he seemed. Harry shook his head violently and laid his head against Draco's shoulder, his face turned into his neck. It was disconcerting, not hearing a pulse, and Harry violently fought off the tears that were threatening to erupt. _

"Don't leave me, Draco," he whispered. "Not now. I need you. Stay with me, please. Don't let your father beat you." 

Harry reached up and threaded his fingers through the blond hair. "Don't leave me." 

"Harry," Dumbledore said softly. Harry began to look up, but a sudden thump within Draco's chest stopped him and he pressed his ear against Draco again. It thumped again and Harry let out a small cry. 

"His heart is starting again! The spell worked!" 

"Move aside, Mr. Potter," Madam Pomfrey ordered sternly. "I need to follow the spell through." 

Harry hurriedly moved aside and shifted from foot to foot anxiously as Pomfrey once again cast spells over Draco. Numbers and graphs appeared above the bed which the nurse read quickly and turned with a smile on her face. "He'll be all right. I'll need to keep a close watch on him for the next few days, but he'll survive. His heart is getting stronger by the second." 

Sirius clapped Harry on the shoulder as he let out a small, almost manic laugh. "He's all right," Harry reassured his frantic mind. "What sort of curse was that?" 

"It was obviously a Dark curse," Pomfrey began, "But, the purpose of the curse is to clot the blood in his veins. Eventually, his veins and arteries would have been just a large network of scabs." 

"I believe it was a mixture of curses," Dumbledore hypothesized. "Madam Pomfrey, I wish to have a list of what exactly was wrong with him so that I may deduce what those curses were." 

"Certainly, I'll be by your office this afternoon." 

Madam Pomfrey checked on Draco one last time, gave Harry a small smile and left the room. "Judging by that ring on your finger, Harry," Dumbledore began with a small smile, "Draco is getting better by the second and I believe congratulations are in order, but let us save those for a different day." 

Harry looked to his ring, relieved to see it begin to glow brighter, and nodded, feeling his heart begin to soar. "Thank you for helping him, Sir." 

"It was nothing, dear boy. Sirius, it is good to see you out. I do hope I will be able to relieve our dear French professor before the next full moon?" 

Sirius nodded. "I hope to be back as soon as possible, Albus." 

"This is good to hear. Now, if you'll all excuse me. All seems well here, I shall get back to my tea with Minerva." 

Harry smiled slightly after the Headmaster as he left, Remus walking beside the Headmaster. The Gryffindor slowly returned to Draco. He lovingly watched Draco, at his peaceful face, hands resting on his stomach. Suddenly, Harry's body seemed to drain of energy, and he collapsed onto the bed next to the blond. "This was a nightmare," he murmured, taking Draco's left hand. His pale skin felt like death warmed over and he quickly dropped it again. Draco twitched with the sudden movement and Harry had to turn away. "It's a nightmare," he repeated. "I hate Lucius Malfoy. I don't understand how the devil himself could have helped to create my Draco." 

"It's no use hanging onto that hatred, Harry," Sirius said softly. "I did that with Peter and it ruined my life. Lucius Malfoy will pay for the things he's done someday, when we win this war." 

Harry scowled and continued to speak as if Sirius had not said anything at all. "Draco is his son! He created him and then tried to destroy him. I _hate_ him. He almost took away my life." Harry picked up Draco's hand again and kissed it. 

"Harry, you'll have to let it go. Draco is all right. You can see that. Do not do anything stupid. Think before you act, all right?" 

"Sirius," Harry turned from Draco, "I'm not going to track Lucius down to kill him or anything. I was just making it known that I hate him. Besides, if I did do that, it would hurt Draco. Draco doesn't like Lucius, sure, but he's still his father. I couldn't knowingly hurt anybody's father, even if he is the nastiest person I know." 

Sirius smiled gently. "You are one hell of a young man, Harry. I sometimes wonder if I would have corrupted you had I raised you." 

"I doubt it, Sirius," Harry grinned. "You're all right, aren't you?" 

Sirius let out a bark-like laugh. "I've been through the mill, this one. I was very immature back then, Harry. I never would have been able to do it." 

"Remus would have helped though, wouldn't he?" 

"Yes," Sirius nodded fondly. "He would have. Merlin knows he's always had a better head on his shoulders than I have." 

Harry shrugged. "And it's not like it matters now anyway, what with my parents being…" Harry stopped. He wanted to continue that sentence about them being alive, but could not push the words past his lips. Something was telling him that it was not true. He closed his eyes and pushed the conflicting thoughts away. "It doesn't matter anymore anyway, Sirius. Let's not talk about it." 

Sirius looked equally troubled about the topic and nodded his head. "I assume you're going to be staying here with Draco, so I'll talk to you later, all right? I'm going to go catch up with Remus." 

"See you later, Sirius." 

Sirius ruffled Harry's hair and left the infirmary. Harry lay down and curled up next to Draco. Just as he was settling down, Sirius stuck his head back through the doors with a big grin. "Oh, and congratulations again, Harry. I'm proud of you." 

"Thank you," Harry smiled happily and wrapped an arm around Draco's chest. "Yes, congratulations to us," he murmured quietly once they were alone again. "You're mine forever now." 

Draco did not respond, but the steady rise and fall of his chest was enough for Harry. "And I'm yours." 

The next week passed slowly with Draco in the infirmary. Harry was with him at every free moment. in the hopes that he would get to see Draco's return to full health. It was happening slowly but steadily, and that is all Harry could have hoped for. Madam Pomfrey made sure to tell Harry Draco's vital signs every time she took them and she began patting Harry fondly on the shoulder each time she passed by Draco's bed. 

Even with the never-ending worry of having Draco in the hospital wing, Harry still kept up with his homework. McGonagall was impressed with his sincerity to earn such good marks and had called him into her office mid-week. She expressed her happiness for him with a small smile and told him that should he continue to work diligently, he would become a great Auror. While the meeting left Harry in good spirits, it made him even more nervous about telling Draco that he planned to go through Auror training. It would be difficult, Harry knew, but had to be done. They were engaged to be married and needed to be truthful with each other. 

Harry kept the happy news to himself and expressly asked all four people who knew to keep it a secret. It did not feel right for Harry to tell people while Draco was unconscious. The most difficult part of keeping the secret was keeping the ring from view. It now felt wrong to take it off, like he was naked, so Harry kept it on. Ron and Hermione were a bit put off when Harry brushed them off numerous times and would not study with them; he was not ready to tell them yet. It was happy news he and Draco shared, and the news should only be told with Draco by his side. But it was difficult to keep anything from his best friends. 

The Friday after Draco was put into the hospital wing, Harry was not able to go to the infirmary until nearly seven in the evening. His class schedule was full for Fridays and to top it off, he had Quidditch practice before dinner. The Gryffindor versus Slytherin game was scheduled for the next day, but it was postponed until Draco was feeling better. Nevertheless, Harry thought it necessary to practice all he could. The goal was as it was any other year: win the House Cup. Only this year, Harry _needed_ to win. It was his final year and he wanted to go out on a high note. 

When Harry hurried into the infirmary, he was fresh from the shower and still a bit damp. He nearly collided with Madam Pomfrey, who gave him a harsh admonishment for running in the infirmary 'and undoubtedly the hallways where there are younger students you could trample.' But, then she gave him a kind smile and pointed to Draco's bed. When Harry looked, Draco was sitting up, eating dinner. Rather, he had been eating dinner, but now he glared at Harry. 

"Draco!" Harry cried out and ran to the bed. "You're finally up." 

"I awoke to find that I had absolutely no visitors," Draco scowled. "The flowers you gave me were nice, but where are the chocolates?" 

"I did get you chocolate!" Harry exclaimed. "It must have been Crabbe and Goyle. They came in here once." 

"They did?" Draco questioned with a quirk of his eyebrow. "That's strange. They haven't wanted anything to do with me for a while. Well, perhaps they've changed their minds about something, unless it just _was_ to see if I had any sweets to steal. At any rate, where the hell have you been? I've been awake since three this afternoon, you realise, and it is now after seven. _Seven_, Harry! That is unacceptable." 

Harry could do nothing but smile inanely. Draco scowled at him and picked up his fork again. Harry quickly sat on the edge of the bed and stole the utensil from his hand. "I'm sorry," he smiled and leaned forward to kiss Draco. Draco whimpered softly as their lips gently brushed together, and the kiss slowly intensified. When they pulled away, their lips were pink and swollen, and their breath was coming in short pants. "God, I missed you, Draco," Harry murmured against Draco's cheek. "I've been so anxious and worried. I…" Harry sucked in a breath. "You nearly died," he held onto Draco tighter. "I was so scared I would lose you." 

Draco gently rubbed his face against Harry's. "Madam Pomfrey says I'll be all right now. I'm out of the woods. Dumbledore had a good part in helping me get better, I understand, and he's already been here to tell me that our Quidditch match is this weekend. Pomfrey agreed to let me play as long as I land if there's any sort of problem." 

"And I'll keep an eye on you up there." 

"Don't you dare, Harry. You have the same job as I do up there, and I won't let you forfeit the game because of me. I know you want to win. So do I, Harry. Don't worry about me. Besides, I'm not even sure I can play yet. My chest still hurts a bit. The game will now be on Sunday if I decide I can play." 

Harry leaned back and smiled. "I'm glad you're better. It's so good to hear you speaking again. I've been speaking to you a lot this week. I hated not getting an answer." 

"I could hear you and I answered when I could in my head. I just don't remember my responses or the conversations quite so clearly anymore, otherwise, I'd tell you everything I would have said. There's another dinner here for you, by the way. Pomfrey expected you here, I guess." 

Draco picked up his fork and began eating. Harry watched him contentedly for a few moments until Draco looked up with a smile. "Eat," he commanded and winked. Harry smoothed Draco's hair back and then happily did as he was told. 

It was not until much later when Harry was sent back to the Gryffindor Tower by Madam Pomfrey. Harry was not surprised to see Ron and Hermione still in the Common Room, as Hermione had claimed that Ron needed a lot of help with his homework lately. Ron had been hoping for this day to come, of course, he had told Harry with a grin. 

They both greeted Harry happily, as they had just put away their work and told him to join them next to the fire. "How's Draco doing?" Hermione inquired as she straightened up Ron's homework. 

Harry grinned. "Oh, he's doing great. He's back to his old snarky self." 

Ron looked sceptical. "Oh, yes, just what we were all hoping for." 

"Hush," Hermione admonished. "Now that he's better, will you tell us what the ring is for?" 

"Well, we _know_," Ron said, "because it's bloody obvious, but we'd like to hear it from your mouth." 

Harry blushed. "I thought I had been doing a good job at hiding it." 

"As good as you are about hiding a whale on a crowded beach," Ron raised a brow. 

"Oh," Harry smiled sheepishly. "I had hoped to tell you with Draco, but I suppose it doesn't _really_ matter. But, yeah… he proposed to me. That was his Christmas present to me. That's why he was so nervous about it." 

"Oh," Hermione sighed. "That's so sweet. He seems to be so different with you. I mean from how he used to be. He was positively awful to you for years. Sometimes I can't believe the things he does for you, like proposing..." Hermione smiled. "So… how did he do it?" 

Harry launched into an abridged story of their engagement and how they went back to the classroom to celebrate. He trailed off when he got to how they visited Sirius and Remus the next day. He did not like to think of that. 

"As long as you're happy, Harry," Hermione smiled, "then I'm happy for you. Congratulations. You two do make such a lovely couple." 

Hermione hugged him. "Thanks, Hermione." 

"Yeah, whatever makes you happy, mate. He might be a little ferret, but we can see you love each other. And… he isn't entirely ferrety looking, is he?" Ron flushed. 

"I knew it," Harry teased. "Ron's holding a torch for my fiancée." 

"I am not!" 

Harry and Hermione continued teasing Ron, until Ron left in a mock-huff. And Harry thought that he had never felt so happy and complete in his life. 

At promptly one in the afternoon the next day, Draco was released from Madam Pomfrey's care. Draco was boasting to Harry that his chest felt mostly better and that he was only required to visit the infirmary once a week for a month for a check-up, unless something felt wrong. The two young men headed straight for their private room under Harry's suggestion that they talk. He felt it was high time to tell Draco of his plans to become an Auror, and McGonagall's assurance that he had high chances at becoming one. 

They settled on the couch, Draco firmly ensconced within Harry's arms and sucking on a blood lolly. "So, what did you want to talk about?" Draco asked, pulling the sucker from his mouth with an audible pop. 

"It's something that I should have told you a long time ago. I'm sorry for not telling you sooner, but you've been so against it that it's made me nervous to bring it up. And then you proposed, and then you were hit by the curse, and… I'm just making excuses, really, but Draco, this is tough on me. I need your support." 

Draco turned in Harry's arms so that he was able to look directly at him. "What are you on about, Harry? You know that I'll support you in anything." 

"No, I don't know that, Draco. All I've ever wanted to be was an Auror, but you keep pushing a Quidditch career on me. What am I supposed to think? I don't want a Quidditch career. That's not the life I want to lead. I don't need more fame. I just want to be an Auror and I'm going to do it. McGonagall has already told me that if I keep studying as I have been recently, that I will probably earn top grades in N.E.W.T's and be a great Auror. Everybody else is supporting me in this decision but you. I need you to support me." 

Draco frowned. "I am trying to support you. It's just… Harry, you're always putting yourself in danger by trying to save others. Yes, the prophecy you learned of a few years ago does put you in a position to save everybody from the Dark Lord. But, that's it. Harry, I'm so tired of worrying every day about whether or not you're going to go out and put yourself in danger. And to know that that is what you'll have to do everyday when you go into work? I would give myself a premature heart attack. I can't… I can't live like that." 

"Draco." 

"Harry." 

The two stared each other down both determined not to give in. But, finally, Harry blinked and looked away. "I take that as you'll look into other careers?" Draco said happily. 

"Yes," Harry sighed, looking away. 

"Wonderful!" 

The blond was interrupted by a loud knock on the door and Draco irritably went to open it. As soon as it was open, Sierra came bounding in and sat across from Harry, beaming brightly. "Oh, I heard that you were out of the infirmary, Draco," she gushed. "I was hoping to find you in here." 

"Sierra, this really isn't a good time," Harry muttered, glancing up at Draco who stared contemptuously down at Sierra. 

"No, it's a _perfect_ time, Sierra, don't worry about it," Draco continued staring contemptuously at her. "While we're on the topic of things I want to change about Harry, we'll just move onto another one, shall we?" 

"Draco, please don't bring Sierra into this. She's my little sister, not a third wheel to our relationship," Harry sighed, standing up. 

"No, she's not a third wheel, but she sure as hell is a problem," Draco spat. 

"What the hell is your problem, Draco?" Harry threw his arms up. "Sierra is not a problem." Sierra had now stood up and was throwing a dark look at Draco. 

"No, Harry, if he thinks I'm a problem, perhaps we should hear him out, although I don't see why I would be, considering I rarely ever get to speak with either of you." 

"That's not the problem and both of you know it," Draco advanced on both Potters. "The problem is that Harry and I are seeing and speaking with somebody who does not even exist. Harry is an _orphan_ and the only child of James and Lily Potter. The entire wizarding world seems to know this except for you two." Draco poked Sierra in the shoulder. "You seem solid. Who the hell are you? Who sent you to impersonate a long lost Potter child? Who are Sierra and Austin Potter, really? Who are the people impersonating Harry's parents? I know you know something that we don't, so I suggest you confess what you know and then get the hell out of Hogwarts." 

"Draco," Harry said weakly, but both Draco and Sierra silenced him with a glare. 

"What you don't seem to understand, _Draco_," Sierra began, "is that I _do_ belong here." She advanced on him and she seemed to grow in size with her anger. Harry frowned when he felt the magic swirling around her. "However you, Draco, do not belong here. You were never meant to survive this long." 

"Sierra," Harry began to panic. 

"Be quiet, Harry. You'll thank me later." 

Magic was swirling visibly around her now and Harry saw it in slow motion as Sierra lifted her hand and blasted a jet of magic and hit Draco. Harry watched as Draco flew through the air, back curved forward and arms in a circle, as if he were holding an invisible ball. When he landed with an audible thud, the breath was knocked out of him, and suddenly nearly everything became clear to Harry. "You did it!" Harry cried out. "You stole my Invisibility cloak and have been making everybody disappear." 

"I never stole it, Harry. Father told us to share it and you've been hogging it. It was high time you gave it to us to use." 

"Us?" Harry asked weakly. 

Sierra rolled her eyes. "You're boring," she decided and pointed her hand at Draco again. 

"No!" Harry cried out and pushed her aside. He ran to Draco and hauled him off the floor. "You okay to run, Draco?" 

"Yes," he coughed out and grabbed his chest. "It hurts though." 

"Get out of the way, Harry!" Sierra called out. 

Harry pulled on Draco's arm and they hurried from the room. A blast of magic hit the doorframe and part of the stone burst into pieces. The two boys hurtled down the hall and around the corner, the sound of Sierra's pounding footsteps close behind them. "Where do we go?" Draco asked urgently as they descended a staircase. 

"I don't know," Harry panted in reply. 

They ran as quickly and silently as they could for a few minutes, hoping that they would be able to lose Sierra. When Harry finally pulled on Draco's arm to stop, they were gasping for breath, sweat starting to trickle down their foreheads. There was barely time to catch their breath when they heard the sound of running footsteps approach. Harry swore quietly under his breath and peeked around the corner. Sierra was racing down the hall, Austin not far behind. 

"Let's go!" he whispered urgently. "Austin is with her now." 

Draco swore, and clutching his chest followed Harry. Austin and Sierra tore around the corner just as Harry and Draco disappeared behind a tapestry, which hid a set of stairs. One of their pursuers sent a curse after them and burned a large hole through the tapestry. The curse flew over their heads and hit the wall above them. Pieces of stone rained down. Harry and Draco covered their heads and hurried down the staircase. Draco yelped as a large chunk of stone collided with his ankle. "I'm fine," he nodded. Harry led Draco down another staircase, but as they were halfway down, it began to move. They were now facing the south side of the castle. At the bottom of the stairs, Harry stopped for a moment, looking down the hall. 

"Draco… we can't go that way. The Great Hall is that way and dinner will be starting in a few minutes. There are too many students." 

"Harry, there are the professors to help." 

"By the time they realise what's happening, it'll be too late. Somebody will have disappeared." Harry looked fierce as he stared Draco down, daring him to say otherwise. "I won't have that happen on my account, Draco." "What are we going to do then? We can't lead them on this wild goose chase _all_ night, Harry." 

At that moment, Harry saw a curse fly at them from above. He pulled Draco to a kneeling position and the curse raced by, singing Harry's sleeve. Hurriedly, Harry looked around and saw the only other way to go was left. It led to the west end of the castle where the Ministry of Magic workers were set up. With a firmly set jaw, Harry pulled Draco to his feet and ran down the corridor. 

"We need to hide!" Draco wheezed as they took a shortcut through a classroom. "I can't run much longer, Harry….. My chest is…" He coughed to punctuate his point. 

Harry nodded. "Yeah…." Draco was now trailing behind, and had Harry not been holding onto his hand, would have stopped completely. Harry stopped again and listened. He could faintly hear footsteps running, but thought he had good amount of time to find a hiding place. There was two doors to the left, which were never open, nor had Harry ever tried to open. He went to the handle of one door and tried tugging it open, but it would not budge. Taking his wand, Harry cast all the unlocking charms he knew, but nothing made it work. "Harry, it's a waste of time," Draco sighed, exasperated. "That's just a wall pretending to be a door. Try this one." Harry blushed slightly as Draco pulled the door next to it open. The running footsteps were getting nearer, and in a slight panic, Harry slammed the door shut and backed against the wall, and in the process knocked down two metal buckets along the wall . Draco glared as the clatter died down. 

The room was an abandoned closet. There were enough spider webs to get lost in and the two old metal buckets with rotting old mops. They arranged themselves as comfortably as they could after they cast several strong locking charms on the door. Harry shifted in embarrassment. "I wasn't thinking. I forgot that the walls do that." 

Draco laughed quietly, punctuated by a cough. "It's all right, Harry. I understand… that you're dim." 

Harry had no time to be indignant, as at the moment they heard both Austin and Sierra stop outside the door. 

"They have to be around here somewhere," Austin was saying. "We weren't _that_ far behind them. They must have hid." 

Another set of footsteps began echoing down the hall. Both Harry and Draco frowned at each other. "Must be a Ministry worker," Harry whispered. 

"Let's hope they let him or her pass." 

"What's all the commotion?" a strange man's voice suddenly inquired. "If that's Peeves, you better watch it, or we'll have to get the Bloody Baron to straighten you out. People are trying to work." 

Sierra and Austin laughed and Harry could only guess what they found so funny. A sudden chill went through his body and they heard the man shriek outside the door. A few seconds later, a jolt ran through Harry and he knew with ill clarity what had happened. "Oh, no," he murmured and swallowed thickly. 

Harry did not know what made him think, or even say it, but all he knew was that he had to _keep_ saying it. "We're not here," he whispered. "Go look somewhere else. You lost us. We're nowhere near this area. We're not here." 

There was a few moments of silence and suddenly, Sierra let out a puff of breath. "We must have lost them, Austin. They're nowhere around. Let's keep looking." 

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea." 

Draco and Harry waited until their footsteps disappeared before they stood up. Harry removed the locking charms and began to open the door, but Draco stopped him. "How did you do that?" 

"Do what?" 

Draco stared incredulously. "You just controlled their minds, Harry. You _told_ them to look for us somewhere else, and they listened." 

"I…" Harry stopped and thought about it. _Why_ had it worked? Why had he started saying it in the first place? Had it been just a nervous reaction? Surely anybody in their situation would have muttered something of the sort under their breath as well. But that never worked. Harry shook his head. "I don't know what I did, but whatever it was, it worked. It bought us time to go to Dumbledore." 

"Finally," Draco muttered and pushed the door open. 

It was not too far to Dumbledore's office, of this they were thankful. It was a long and slow trek as they peered around every corner and walked as quietly as they could. They did not want to chance another run-in like the last one. 

Luckily, Dumbledore was just emerging from his office, no doubt to go to dinner, when they arrived, their faces sweating, and their eyes holding a slight manic look. The Headmaster frowned. "My dear boys, what is the matter?" 

"We know who has been causing the disappearances, Headmaster," Draco started before Harry could get a word in edgewise. He pointed to Harry. "They're Harry's brother and sister." 

Dumbledore merely raised an eyebrow. "Harry's siblings?" He stroked his beard, studying Harry. "How fascinating." 

"And not only that, but Harry controlled them just now. We locked ourselves in a dirty old closet…" Draco wrinkled his nose, as if just realising where he had hid for ten minutes, and dusted off his sleeve. "And Harry started muttering under his breath, saying that we weren't there and that we had got away – because they had been chasing us. They just left, so we came here. And Headmaster!" Draco said urgently. "I think it has something to do with nobody else being able to see them. Harry has some sort of power over them." 

Dumbledore continued studying Harry thoughtfully. "This is interesting. Very, very interesting… Draco, you say he _controlled_ them?" Draco nodded. "Hmm… very interesting," he repeated. 

Dumbledore's eyes lit up. "Harry, I wonder… if you concentrated on your brother and sister now, and told them to go somewhere, perhaps a classroom and told them to stay there until we can figure out how to fix the situation?" 

"I… I don't know if I can do it, Sir." 

"It should not be so hard, my dear boy. You've just done it, according to Draco. Just concentrate on them and tell them what to do." 

Harry hesitated, but he nodded after a few moments and closed his eyes. He thought of what Austin and Sierra might be doing now – looking for Draco and him – and suddenly he somehow knew that they were in the third floor corridor, heading to the dungeons. In his head, he commanded loudly for them to go in the nearest classroom and to lock themselves in. He felt a tickle in the back of his mind and knew that they had done it. He told them to stay there until he said to come out, and opened his eyes. 

He swallowed. Why did it feel like he was a parent grounding his misbehaving children? It just felt wrong. Even though Harry knew that Austin and Sierra had been behind the disappearances and possibly the answer to where to find the missing people, he felt sorry for locking them up. They were his siblings after all…. He shook his head. They were not really… were they? He swallowed again. "They're in a classroom in the third floor corridor. They've locked themselves in and won't come out until I say so." 

"Excellent!" Dumbledore clapped his hands together. "Now I do believe I'll need to see the both of you in my office as soon as is possible. For now, we should all go to the Great Hall to eat! Fantastic meal tonight, I hear – steak and potatoes." 

Harry and Draco looked at each other and nodded. "Yeah," they said in unison, and followed the Headmaster uneasily to the Great Hall. 

The Quidditch match was postponed another week, due to their marathon through the halls of Hogwarts. Draco had gone back to the infirmary that same night complaining of chest pains. Pomfrey immediately insisted upon him staying one more night and that Quidditch was absolutely out of the question that weekend. Draco had sulked, but quickly got over it as soon as Harry convinced Madam Pomfrey to let him stay in the infirmary as well. 

The week passed in a blur of nerves, classes, and homework. Harry checked on his siblings in his mind a few times every hour just to be certain that they were still there. Sure enough, they always were, and getting angrier by the hour. They wanted their freedom back, but they made sure to let Harry know that as soon as they got it back, Harry would be sorry. 

Harry tried not to listen, as he knew he could control them, but it still scared him. He knew that, for whatever reason, they wanted Draco gone. Harry was not willing to let that happen. 

Saturday, the day of the long-awaited match finally dawned bright and clear. Ron was surprisingly up with the sun and poking Harry in the shoulder. Harry groaned and rolled over, not looking forward to playing his fiancée at all. It was made even more difficult when just last night, when the two had been together, Draco had stopped in the middle of snogging and warned Harry that this might be his last snog, if Harry won. Harry knew he was only half joking. 

The team was in the Great Hall an hour and a half before the beginning of the game, shovelling down breakfast. Harry poked and prodded, glancing up at the Slytherin table, where Draco was holding court. The Gryffindor smiled slightly, thinking about how familiar it was to years ago when they hated each other, yet so different. Draco had certainly drifted away from his Slytherin friends, but he still managed to hold a certain air of authority over them. They still admired him as much as they now hated to admit it. Another difference was that Harry now admired him and loved him. 

Sighing, Harry looked down and resumed poking at his food. All too soon, the team left to get ready amidst cheers from three tables. Harry felt slightly stronger, but still felt a bit nauseated. 

A half hour later, fully dressed in his Quidditch garb, Harry paced the floor of the changing room. Ron sat watching him on a bench, his broom held across his lap. "I'm getting dizzy," Ron complained. 

Harry sent him an apologetic glance and stood still, running his hand through his hair. "Sorry, Ron, but I'm just so nervous. I don't like the thought of playing against Draco. I love him. I don't want to be his rival. I don't want to play against him. How would you feel playing against your boyfriend, Ron?" 

Ron grinned, bemused. "I don't know. I've never had the inclination to get a boyfriend." 

Harry laughed nervously. "You know what I mean, Ronald Weasley. What if you had to play against Hermione?" 

"Not likely." 

"You're right. She would never play Quidditch, would she? Well… surely you get my point? I don't want to play against Draco." 

Ron sighed deeply and stood up, placing his broom against the wall. "Harry, I can't allow this to continue. As our captain –" 

"You're co-captain," Harry reminded him. 

"As our captain," Ron continued, waving Harry off, "you need to be ready to take on the other team, and especially the other seeker, even if it is the git of the century, who also happens to be your beloved fiancée. So, the job that I need to do, as your co-captain, is to make sure that you are in game mode." 

"How do you do that, precisely?" Harry asked sceptically. 

"Just wait for it," Ron replied, tapping his finger against his lips. He looked towards the door for a few moments and then looked back to Harry, his face bright. "What you need, Harry is a different mind set, right about now. I need you to repeat after me." 

"All right," Harry said cautiously. 

"Say, 'I hate Malfoy.'" 

"What? But I don't hate Draco. I love him." 

"That's your problem, Harry," Ron sighed. "Just trust me. Say, 'I hate Malfoy.'" 

"Okay… I hate Draco." 

"No! Say, 'Malfoy,' not Draco!" 

"I hate Malfoy." 

"Say it with feeling! I HATE MALFOY!" Ron gestured madly, grinning widely. 

"I hate Malfoy!" Harry yelled half-heartedly. 

"Yes, that's it, Harry! Just put a little more enthusiasm into it, though. Yell it! Use your diaphragm." 

Harry sucked in a large breath, "I HATE MALFOY!" 

"Yes!" Ron punched a fist into the air. "We're going to cream Slytherin! And we all hate Malfoy!" 

"I HATE MALFOY!" Harry continued yelling. "WE'RE GOING TO MAKE HIM WISH HE NEVER GOT OUT OF BED THIS MORNING!" "Yes, that's it, Harry!" 

Harry laughed. "I HATE MALFOY!" 

"Oh," said a quiet voice from the door. 

Harry whipped his head around, just as Ron did, and to Harry's utter horror, saw Draco turning around to walk back out. "Draco!" Harry exclaimed. "It's not what it sounded like." 

Draco spun back around and glared. "Well, it sounded to me like you were yelling out your hatred for me for everybody to hear. I only came to wish you luck, Potter, but I suppose that it's not needed anymore." 

"No, Draco, it's really not what it seems," Harry pled, beginning to feel panic set in. 

Ron sighed, and stepped forward to take Draco's arm and drag him in. "It's really not, Malfoy," he said as Draco plucked Ron's fingers from his arm. "Harry was just not feeling very competitive towards you, and I had to think of something to get him in the mood again. Why don't you try it? Say, 'I hate Potter!'" 

"Oh, honestly, Ron," Harry admonished. 

"No, seriously, Malfoy, say it. It got Harry in a competitive mood. Yell it out." 

Draco looked at Harry, who smiled weakly. Draco seemed reassured and drew a breath. "I HATE POTTER!" 

"I HATE MALFOY!" Harry returned, mock-glaring. 

"Potter is a git!" 

Ron was by now, holding his stomach in uproarious laugher. Draco raised an eyebrow at him. "Potter is a four-eyed little bint!" 

"Malfoy is a stupid ferret!" 

Both Harry and Draco jumped as Ron banged the lockers with his fist, still laughing. "You would think he's getting off on this," Draco commented lightly. 

"He probably is…." They both continued to stare at Ron for a few moments. "Well," Harry clapped his hands together, "are you up for a quick snog?" 

"Always," Draco grinned. 

"That's not game mode," Ron groaned as he looked up and spotted them kissing. 

Harry slowly, reluctantly pulled away a few moments later, and kissed Draco's cheek. "Good luck, love," he whispered. 

Draco pulled back, smiling softly. He attempted to brush down Harry's hair. "Good luck, Harry." The blond turned then, and started for the door. Ron frowned at Harry. 

Harry sighed. "Oh, fine. Hey! I hate you, Malfoy!" he called after Draco. 

"I hate you, too, Potter," Draco replied opening the door. The Slytherin looked back before he left. "For the record, I hate you, as well, Weasley." 

When Draco was gone, Ron looked at Harry, his brow furrowed. "He says he hates you when he really means he loves you…. So, when he says he hates me, does it mean he loves me, too?" 

Harry laughed. "Shut it, Weasley, and get your broom." 

Several minutes later, Harry was leading his team out onto the pitch. On Madam Hooch's command, Harry and Draco shook hands. Draco sent Harry a small wink as they rose into the air. Harry quickly turned away, feeling a blush spread across his cheeks. 

The game was fast and competitive. The Slytherins were pulling out all the stops in order to win, yet Gryffindor still managed to stay ahead at least ten points. Harry's nerves were on end from wanting to win, yet wanting Draco to win, plus watching Draco for any signs of distress. Draco insisted that he was feeling much better, but Harry still worried. 

"Gryffindor scores!" Harry heard the announcer yell over the speaker. He whooped and started to do a loop-the-loop, but spotted a glint of gold and went after that instead. Draco had been spotting him the entire game so followed as soon as he moved. Harry, however, had his sights set on the Snitch and forgot everything else around him. There was only the wind in his ears and the little flutter of silver wings ahead of him. 

The Snitch seemed to sense that it was being chased and suddenly changed directions. Both seekers swerved to the left, giving Draco a couple inch lead on Harry. But, unexpectedly, the little ball swerved down and they both were forced to follow in a steep dive. They were thirty feet up in the air and going down fast. The Snitch was getting nearer the ground and Harry could almost feel the nervous energy radiating off Draco beside him. Draco wanted to turn up. Harry urged him to mentally, not because he wanted to win, but because he was aware that Draco hated steep dives. Draco would never admit it, but Harry was always able to tell. 

Harry stretched out his arm as he neared the Snitch. His arm brushed with Draco's left, but he did not let it distract him. He surged his broom faster. The ground was looming too close for comfort, even for Harry, so he pulled up. However, the tip of his broom collided against the ground and he tumbled off it onto the ground, his hand sliding over the Snitch and grasping it firmly as he fell. He did a somersault and landed sprawled on his back. Nothing was hurting so he smiled widely, forgetting Draco for a moment. He looked over when he did remember, and saw Draco rushing to him. Draco dropped his broom beside him and knelt down. 

"Are you okay?" 

"Yeah. I'm fine." 

"I suppose the Snitch got away then?" 

Harry flinched inwardly. He reluctantly opened his hand to show Draco the Snitch sitting there placidly. Draco glared. "Are you sure you're okay?" 

"Yes, I'm not hurt at all," Harry sat up. 

Draco stood and picked up his broom. He swung it as he turned away from Harry and it whacked him across the head. "Good," Draco grit out and walked away. 

Harry rubbed his head and walked Draco walk away. "Ouch." 

My muse's favorite food is reviews. Please satisfy its appetite.


	13. The Human Snitch

**A/N:** Speedy on this chapter, hey? :) Thanks to those who reviewed and I hope that you enjoy this chapter, because I enjoyed writing it. Also, thanks to my beta for the speedy turnabout time on this chapter. Awesome! 

* * *

**Remember You**  
_Chapter Thirteen_

"Harry, what are you writing?" Ron demanded as he sauntered over, butterbeer in hand. "We need our Seeker for the celebratory party, now don't we?"

"Sure. I'll be there in a minute, Ron. I'm writing a letter."

Ron grudgingly walked away with the promise of a good hex if Harry was not done within five minutes. It was just after dinner and the party in the Gryffindor tower was just starting in earnest. There had been a bit of a celebration before dinner, but that had been with the younger years. Fourth year and younger had been sent upstairs to their dormitories for the night so that the older students could have some fun of their own. So, with the thought of a little partying before he followed through on his plan, Harry took his self-inking quill and began to write.

_Draco,_

Don't be like this, all right? You know you're a great flier.... I know you're a great flier, so stop sulking, you prat. Anyway, I'm going to get away from the Common Room in a little bit. I have a present for you that I think might cheer you up. Meet me in our classroom at exactly ten o'clock. No sooner, no later. I mean it, do not show up any sooner than ten. It will ruin the surprise.

Love,  
Harry

After Harry had showered in the changing rooms, he had hurried to find Draco, only to find that Draco was truly mad at his boyfriend for winning. Harry had tried to explain that it was not a big deal, but the blond had said that he just wanted to win one time against the Gryffindor, but that Harry was making it damn near impossible to do just that. So, Harry had come up with this plan and would carry through with it in a few hours. He reread it, smiled, folded up the letter and beckoned Wally to him. The dragon dissolved the parchment with his fire and took off out the window. Harry watched the silver dragon for a few moments before heading over to where a crowd of students were congregating, making bets on who would take the longest to get drunk on butterbeer.

Harry manoeuvred himself behind the couch in the classroom and knelt down behind it, waiting for Draco to arrive. The Gryffindor had just extinguished all the lights, pulled the curtains over the windows, and now the only light in the room was the odd golden light emanating from Harry's body. He smiled to himself for his brilliant plan and waited patiently until Draco came.

Five minutes later, Draco cautiously opened the door and stepped into the darkened room, closing the door behind himself. Before the Slytherin could say anything, Harry flicked his wand and golden letters appeared in front of Draco. The blond stepped back in surprise and read the words.

I am golden,  
I am sparkling,  
My name is Snitch,  
And I am yours,  
If you can find me.

"What.... Harry? What is this? Do I have to look for a Snitch?"

Draco continued to look around in a bewildered way as the words faded away. "I'm not quite following, Harry." Harry stifled a laugh with his hand as Draco began to walk around the darkened room.

The Gryffindor stealthily moved from behind the couch when Draco came near and moved under the cover of all the furniture. "Hey! What's that glowing, Harry? Come out!"

Harry smiled and moved along the darkened wall to the side of the bed as Draco leaned over the back of the couch, looking for the golden glow. He climbed onto the dark silver blankets and not so quietly pulled the hangings shut. He could almost imagine Draco spinning on his heel towards the noise and moving cautiously to the now curtained bed.

"Harry... what are you doing? Seriously, this is starting to get a little weird."

Harry chuckled low in his throat, intending for his fiancée to hear him. He sat on his knees, bum resting on his ankles, and folded his hands primly in his lap, waiting for Draco to open the curtains to see him in the middle of the bed.

Finally, after what seemed ages to Harry, but was only a few seconds, the curtains flew open and Draco finally caught sight of Harry and his mouth gaped open in shock. "_Harry?_"

"Draco," Harry purred. "You found me."

"But.... but..."

Harry grinned seductively at the other boy. He knew exactly why Draco was speechless.

Harry had made himself into a human Snitch.

The Gryffindor had covered his entire, naked body with golden paint that sparkled and glowed in the dark, and procured silver wings that were now flapping slowly on his back.

"Have you lost your mind?" Draco asked incredulously.

Harry pointedly ignored him. "If you want the Snitch, Draco, you'll have to catch it."

The Slytherin stared at him in disbelief

Harry made the wings flap quicker. "You're completely insane, Potter."

Harry started to get anxious that the idea was completely ludicrous. "Do you want the Snitch or not?" he asked trying to sound as if he was completely sure of himself. He spread his arms wide, exposing everything for Draco see. "It's here at your disposal. When have you ever heard of a Snitch offering itself up willingly to a Seeker before?"

"Well..." Draco looked Harry up and down, looking completely torn. "As any fair Seeker, I _would_ like to catch the Snitch, but I don't want it covered in all that goo you have yourself covered in."

Harry licked his lips and smiled. "It's magicked on. It won't come off on you or anything else."

"Will it come off at all?" Draco asked nervously.

"You ask questions that aren't relevant, Draco. Catch me."

Draco slowly crawled onto the bed, kicking his shoes off as he approached his boyfriend. The blond grabbed onto Harry's shoulders. "I caught you."

Harry shook his head. "Not yet."

"What?" Draco asked, now getting frustrated.

"Well, it can't be that easy, can it? A normal Snitch puts up a fight at being caught. You have to know it... sense how it wants to be caught." Harry bit his tongue to keep from biting his lip anxiously. He did not know if Draco would buy this or be completely comfortable with actually doing what Harry wanted to do. But, it _would_ be Draco in charge the entire time…. "So Draco... do you know me well enough to catch me?"

Draco looked confused for a few moments but then slowly lowered Harry onto his back, beginning a careful exploration of Harry's body. Draco pinched, and nipped, and sucked, growing more and more aroused as the seconds turned to minutes. Slowly, Draco stripped off his own clothing and worked his way down Harry's luminescent nakedness. Harry arched and moaned, and when Draco finally talked himself into licking the head of Harry's erection, Harry gasped.

"150 points to Slytherin."

Two hours later, as the two boys lay in the afterglow, Harry shifted so that he was not lying on his wings and moved awkwardly into Draco's arms. True to his word, the paint had not come off Harry's skin, even with his body now covered in a layer of sweat. Draco sighed with content and kissed Harry's scar. "God, but I love you," he murmured sleepily.

"Mmm... You're not mad at me anymore?"

"I wasn't mad at you, you twit. I was mad at myself."

"Well... did I manage to cheer you up?"

"Mmm... Do I have to answer that dim-witted question?" Draco sighed, nestling his head into the hollow of Harry's neck and running his tongue along the pulse point, making Harry moan.

"Stop... I'm so tired. You're like a machine, Draco," Harry teased sleepily.

"I only licked you. It's not like I want another go at the moment. I'm too damn tired. Maybe I'll wake you up in an hour or two though."

Harry smiled at sound of Draco's smirk and kissed the top of his head. "Mm'kay. Goodnight."

"'Night, Harry," Draco replied.

The two boys fell into a peaceful sleep, not waking until late the next morning.

It was a rather dreary day outside; the Great Hall's ceiling above reflected the drab sky, dampening the students' moods. Homework was at an all time high for all students, and everywhere Harry looked, he saw downcast faces. Harry was just about to turn to Draco to remark on this when he was tapped on the shoulder.

"Mr. Potter, if you would follow me to my office, please."

Harry spun his head around and found that Professor Dumbledore was standing behind him, eyes set with worry. It had been a week since the Quidditch game and Harry's post-game play as a golden snitch. The _Daily_ and _Evening Prophet_ had been very busy reporting attacks on wizards and Muggles by Voldemort's Death Eaters and Dark creatures. The creatures were becoming more than a fierce threat as even the most friendly of magical creatures were turning vicious and attacking their owners. Unprecedented amounts of cases had been present in St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies in the past months, but the numbers were only now being reported.

"All right," Harry said apprehensively. "I'll see you three at dinner," he directed towards Ron, Hermione, and Draco. They had just stepped out of the last class of the day, Potions. Harry vaguely noticed that Snape was following behind the Headmaster and was casting quick glances back at Harry. It made Harry feel a little apprehensive. "Erm - may I ask what this is about, sir?" he asked.

Dumbledore turned his head slightly, but continued walking. "It's nothing new, if that's what you mean, Harry," the wizened man replied, taking out a lemon drop from his pocket. "Lemon drop, Severus? Harry?" Both kindly declined the offer. "Well..." Dumbledore continued, after popping a piece of candy into his mouth, "it's about your family, Harry."

Harry immediately stiffened. "What about them?"

Dumbledore did not answer, but said the password. "Skivving Snackboxes."

Harry raised an eyebrow at this, but did not question it as he knew that Dumbledore was a bit off his rocker at times. Before anything more was said, the three men made themselves comfortable in the office. Harry looked around at the snoozing former Headmasters and Headmistresses, and wondered if they really were asleep this time, or if they were awake and listening. Dumbledore cleared his throat bringing Harry's attention back to him.

"As I was saying, this is about your family."

Harry looked at Snape inquiringly, wondering what he was doing here, but Snape merely raised an eyebrow and looked back to Dumbledore. "Professor Snape," Dumbledore nodded towards him, "recently made a trip to Diagon Alley to restore some of his supplies in the student cupboards. Now, this did not make the _Prophet_, but I am sure you would be interested to know that there were more people who mysteriously dissolved as some of our students have been victimized.."

"But how?" Harry asked painfully. "I still have Austin and Sierra locked up."

"Yes, we know that, Harry. They were not the ones who did it."

"Then who?"

Dumbledore sighed. "It was your parents. Professor Snape saw both of them. For some reason, only he was able to see them and managed to stay out of harm's way."

"No! It was not my parents. They would never do anything like that, you know they wouldn't."

"I know they wouldn't, had they been alive, Harry."

"Then why do you believe Snape?"

"_Professor_ Snape, Harry--" the Headmaster began but Snape interrupted in a low voice tinged with anger.

"No, Potter, why should the Headmaster, or even _you_ believe me?" The Potions Master moved forward in his seat so that he could bring his face closer to Harry's. Harry moved back in his chair slightly as Snape bared his yellowed teeth at him. "I'll admit, though it was never a secret, that I hated your father... I still do, and that will never change. Your father was an insufferable know-it-all prat. For years, I thought you were just like him, but by some bad twist of Fate, I got to know you last year. Do you know what I discovered? I found that you were more like your mother than I ever thought possible. You may look exactly like your father, but your personality is completely different.

"Then... by an even worse twist of Fate... you begin dating my godson and Merlin forbid, I actually started to like you." Harry's eyebrows flew up but Snape took no notice. "Now tell me, Potter, why do you think that I would purposely hurt anybody who my godson is in love with?" Snape paused and there were unspoken words there that Harry understood, but was strangely glad that Snape did not repeat. One declaration of like was enough.

Harry bowed his head. "Sorry, Sir."

Snape snorted softly and sat back in his seat. "I would hope that you learn to call me something else when you leave Hogwarts."

"Sev?" Harry asked, grinning, thinking of Draco and how he purposely defied Snape with the nickname.

"Don't push your luck," Snape replied sourly.

Harry pouted. "And you know the routine, Potter... None of--"

"This gets out to anybody," Harry finished. "I know."

Dumbledore's eyes were twinkling merrily when the two younger men turned back to him. "It's good for an old man to see so many good things coming out of this war. Friendship and love are too important to throw away, and they both come stronger when in hard times." Snape merely sniffed and Harry looked down at his ring that was still glowing brightly in the lit room. "Harry, would you be able to control your parents as well?" Dumbledore asked suddenly, effectively ruining any happy thoughts of Draco.

"Erm - I don't know. I could try, I suppose."

Harry closed his eyes concentrated on finding his parents in his mind. Within a few minutes, he found them, heading towards Little Whinging. Harry's eyes snapped open. "They're going to Little Whinging."

"Try and stop them," Dumbledore urged.

Harry immediately closed his eyes and zeroed in on them. He mentally urged his parents to stop in their path, but Lily Potter only told him that they were doing it for his own good and kept going. As he desperately tried to communicate with them, he felt another attack on his mind, and knew that his brother and sister were trying to escape from their prison. Harry's head began to ache from trying to control all four people at once. Harry felt his mind replace the door to the younger Gryffindors' room, felt them pounding and slamming their fists and bodies into it in a mad attempt to escape.

The dark-haired Gryffindor clenched his eyes shut and grabbed his head. A shining white light erupted behind his eyelids and Harry cried out as his mind exploded with excruciating pain.

The next thing Harry knew, he was on the floor, crying, sweating, and somebody was attempting to pick him up. The young Gryffindor opened his eyes and found that it was Professor Snape bending over him. Professor Dumbledore was leaning over his desk, eyes squinted with worry.

"Harry... what happened?" asked a soft voice as Harry closed his eyes again.

His body was trembling in pain, fear and worry as Snape helped him up and set him in a chair. "P...parents got into Number four.... don't know if the Dursleys are okay. Austin and Sierra escaped. I couldn't hold them all. I'm sorry... I'm so sorry." Harry began rocking back and forth until Snape laid a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry. I tried to stop it."

"Harry, it's okay," Dumbledore said softly. "I'm impressed that you have been able to hold them for as long as you have."

Dumbledore continued speaking, but Harry was not listening. He was tuning into his siblings so that he could see where they were. The Gryffindor was up in a flash when he found them heading towards the Great Hall. "They're going to the Great Hall!" he yelled and then he was out of the Headmaster's office. He tuned into their minds as he ran and he could hear just one name in their minds. _Draco Malfoy_.

With that knowledge, Harry ran at even greater speeds through the halls, ignoring the indignant yells when he ran into people. When he reached the entrance hall, he saw Draco emerging from the Great Hall with Ron and Hermione not too far behind him. Harry glanced back at the top of the marble staircase when he felt his siblings' presence and saw them quickly descending the staircase. Sierra raised her hand when she caught sight of Draco and shot off the blue light, directly towards him. Harry yelled out something unintelligible and tackled Draco to the stone floor. The blue light narrowly hit them once again and hit a Ravenclaw behind them. The Ravenclaw boy shrieked in pain before falling to the floor and dissolving into thin air.

Draco was sucking in breath after having it taken away by Harry. "Up for some running?" Harry asked breathlessly as he quickly checked over his boyfriend's body for any injuries.

"Not really, no," Draco choked out. "Why are they still after me? And how the bloody hell did they get out?"

"No time to answer now. Get up."

Ron and Hermione approached them both then, looking towards where the Ravenclaw had once been. "What's going on?" Ron asked stupidly.

"Run! That's what's going on!" Harry shouted as he pulled Draco along with him.

Neither Ron nor Hermione needed telling twice, nor did any of the other students. There was mass hysteria and Harry thought it best if the four of them headed outside where it was free of people, and therefore, less chance of other students getting hit. They ran outside into the warming spring air, looking around for a place to hide from their predators. Harry wrapped a protective arm around his fiancé. He spotted bushes by the base of the castle, and motioned for them hide amongst them.

"You three stay under here. I don't want you getting in the way."

"What are you doing?" Draco asked angrily, pulling Harry's body towards his protectively.

"I'm going to go out and talk to them," Harry whispered as Austin emerged from the castle, closely followed by Sierra.

"Are you mad?" Ron asked incredulously. "You'll be their next victim."

"Not the way I see it."

Without another word, Harry left the bushes to Ron and Draco's quiet mumblings. But Hermione had a contemplative look as he left. "He's right, you know," Harry heard her whisper quietly.

Harry walked into his sibling's view, out of shooting range from the three students in the bushes and crossed his arms over his chest. "You know... mum and dad wouldn't be very happy with you."

Austin sneered. "Mum and dad are the ones who told us to do this."

"Well..." Harry watched as Austin held up his hand in preparation of shooting Harry. "Even if they did, I don't know if they would like you shooting _me_. After all, they just visited Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia in my honour today. I'm sure they would be pretty upset."

Austin lowered his hand and glanced at Sierra. "Fine," he acquiesced. "Give us Draco then."

"Why do you want Draco?" Harry inquired.

"Because he made me mad," Sierra pouted like a small child. "And he's not meant to be here anymore. He needs to be taken away."

"Where do people go when you shoot the blue light at them?"

"That isn't any of your business, Harry, not unless you help us."

"No, I don't think I will, thanks. So... you're working for Voldemort, right? What a big prize in life. Where do you plan on going from here?"

"What do you mean?" Sierra asked.

"I mean... are you staying at Hogwarts, or are you going out to find mum and dad? I think they might like to see you."

"We were thinking about it," Austin said slowly.

"Of course you were," Harry replied easily. "You should go, see them, spend some quality time."

"I do miss them terribly, Austin," said Sierra.

Inwardly, Harry grinned. "Yes, but you know that you're not allowed to use any magic once outside of Hogwarts... so, you won't be able to follow mum and dad's orders. But I'm sure they wouldn't mind. You two need an early holiday. Go, and I'll cover for you here." Harry let his mind begin pushing them away from Hogwarts and within moments, their feet started obeying and they were walking away.

"Thanks, Harry!" Austin yelled.

"No problem! And remember, no magic outside of school!"

"We will!" Sierra called back.

When the two were far enough away that they would not be able to recognise anybody at the castle, Ron, Hermione, and Draco stepped out from behind the bushes and rushed over to Harry. "That was great Harry," Hermione praised. "How did you do it?"

"I can control their minds," Harry said simply, grabbed Draco's hand and led him and his friends back inside of the castle. Hermione looked ready to question him, but he shot her a look. "They won't be any trouble now that they think they can't use magic... but my parents are a different matter altogether."

"Don't worry about it, Harry," Hermione said consolingly. "I'm sure everything will be straightened out sooner or later."

The foursome stopped in the entrance hall when they saw that there were students all around, sobbing into each other's shoulders. Ron grabbed Seamus who was standing by Dean, looking absolutely terrified.

"Seamus, what's everybody's problem? Harry got rid of the idiots who have been doing this."

Seamus looked at all of them with terrified eyes. "It's just that I've never seen any of that happen before, you know? Dean and I saw you four run for it, but after you left, four more students were taken. There were three Slytherins, one Ravenclaw that you saw, and one Hufflepuff."

"Do you know who the Slytherins were?" Draco asked.

Seamus shook his head but Dean was the one who spoke. "They were fifth years, but I didn't know their names."

Draco nodded his head and squeezed Harry's hand. "Let's get out of here," he whispered quietly so that only the Gryffindors around him could hear.

"Where do you want to go?" Harry inquired.

"Anywhere but this funeral ground. Outside... somewhere."

"It is really nice out today," Ron said in fake cheerfulness, but then he looked outside at the clouds. "Oh, yeah. It's not so nice. Well… let's go back out and sit by the lake anyway."

"It's muddy," Seamus pointed out. "The snow only melted a week ago."

"Ah," Ron waved a dismissive hand. "I'm sure Hermione knows of some spell to help us out."

Hermione huffed. "It's always up to me, isn't it, Ron? Why don't you do work for a change and maybe you would know something useful?"

Ron looked incredulous. "Why work when I have you?"

Harry, Draco, Seamus, and Dean shook their head in unison as the two continued bickering all the way to the lake. Ginny Weasley caught up with them on the way there, seeming very eager to get away from the mood of the castle and smiled along with the four boys as the couple ahead of them fought. The youngest Weasley wiggled her way in between Harry and Draco and both their hands. Draco stared down at their joined hands in obvious distaste, but did not say or do anything after a look from Harry.

"So... do you have anything planned for the wedding, boys?"

"Men," Draco corrected automatically.

Ginny rolled her eyes. "Oh, of course. Well... _men_, what do you have planned?"

"Erm... nothing?" Harry said dismissively.

"What?" Ginny shrieked. "Hermione! Do you realize that these two have been doing absolutely nothing to plan for their wedding?"

Hermione backed away from Ron and rounded on the by now, two terrified boys... or rather, men. Seamus and Dean immediately joined Ron. The busy-haired girl poked Harry and Draco painfully in the chest. "I've told you plenty of times since you told me, Harry, that you need to start planning this event! It's a very important day and should not be taken lightly."

"We don't even have a date set though," Harry defended, though this did not bode well with the two girls.

"Well, get one set!" Hermione said fiercely and stopped walking, crossing her arms over her chest and staring at them meaningfully.

"Now?" Draco asked incredulously.

Hermione checked her watch, looked up and rolled her eyes at them. "I don't know of a better time than now."

"Well... I..." Harry began. "I know I want it sometime in August or September. Draco said he wants it on Halloween, but I don't."

"I've decided against that actually," Draco said. "I think in July or August would be perfect."

"August is your moot point, so August it is," Ginny said with a tone of finality. "Now, what's the date?"

"Third weekend, didn't you say, Harry?" Draco asked.

Harry shrugged.

Hermione and Ginny threw their hands up in disgust. "Boys!" they both exclaimed.

"Wait until my mother hears about this!" Ginny said.

"No!" Harry said in horror. "You two are bad enough. Don't bring Mrs. Weasley into it!" he exclaimed, eyes wide.

"Bloody hell," Draco muttered softly. "I'm almost glad my mother isn't speaking to me. She would be ten times worse than any of you Gryffindors."

"So, the wedding is this year on the third weekend of August, right?" Hermione confirmed. "I'm assuming Saturday, or Friday night even?"

Harry locked eyes with Draco, thinking on Draco's uncertainty about marrying this year, but Draco's eyes looked set when the blond turned to Hermione. "That's good. I'd like it on Friday evening."

"Finally!" Ginny exclaimed. "We have some answers. But we really have to get started if we want everything to be perfect." The red-head started ticking off items on her fingers. "You have to choose the colours, the flowers, the groomsmen, the cake, the music..." Ginny let out a breath. "Hermione, we have a lot of work cut out for us. You want to go look through some books in the library for ideas?"

Hermione's face, which had fallen at the thought of getting no help from the boys, brightened considerably at the prospect of book planning the whole thing. "Ooh, I know the perfect books. I came across them a few months ago." She took Ginny by the arm and began leading her away. "We'll compile pictures and notes on all ideas... Maybe I should conjure up some sort of scrapbook and have a section for each... Cakes, musical groups, colours and their meanings - you know, just so they know which colour is perfect for their special day - flowers.... It'll be perfect for them to make final decisions. Plus there are wizarding traditions that they have to choose from..."

Hermione's overexcited voice faded away as she led a rapidly deflating Ginny away. Harry and Draco looked at each other with looks of utter despair. "Want to elope?" Draco asked.

"Seems easiest. We might want to do it soon though before they get too far into it. Otherwise, they might get royally ticked off if we wait too long."

"Oh, I think they'd already be hopping mad if we eloped tonight." Draco grinned impishly. "Want to go now?"

Harry laughed, playfully smacking Draco's arm. "You prat. Let's just keep to August for now and if things get too bad, we'll elope."

Harry smiled affectionately as Draco leaned up and kissed the Gryffindor softly. Draco turned towards Ron, Seamus, and Dean after a few moments and smirked. Ron had tried a spell to dry up the mud under a tree by the lake, but had failed miserably and was now attempting to clean off his robes.

"Weasley, you utter incompetent. That's not how you say it."

Draco waved his wand with the correct pronunciation and a small area had dried up enough for them all to sit down. The clouds were finally giving way to sunshine and the day warmed up considerably. "It sure is warm already," Draco commented as he lay on the ground beside Harry. "You guys wouldn't mind if Harry and I had a quick shag right here, would you? I've always wondered what it would be like to shag outside in the sun."

Ron made a disgruntled noise. "Go find your own area to shag."

"I did dry the ground up for us, Weasley. _You_ go find your own area and practice your Latin. Meanwhile, I'll help Harry with his wand work."

"Argh!" Ron let loose a couple very creative expletives and left in a hurry back towards the castle. Dean and Seamus were roaring with laughter while Harry pinched Draco in his armpit.

"You sure play evil, but I know you don't mean it," Harry whispered.

Draco did not pay attention however. He was pouting at Seamus and Dean. "I was serious. Why aren't they running away screaming?"

"Because it's Seamus and Dean," Harry replied, smiling. "They'd rather watch... and maybe join in."

"Argh!" Draco let go a couple of his own creations and hurried back to the castle, listening to Harry's laughter mix with Seamus' and Dean's.

Over the next couple days, Harry was a nervous wreck. N.E.W.T's were fast approaching and Harry still was secretly planning to become an Auror. It was the only profession that had ever interested him, and he would be damned to let his fiancé stop him from doing what he wanted. Besides, Harry figured that it would be nice to be in the same area of work with his future husband. They could go through training and maybe even become partners when their three years of training were complete. It was one promise to Draco that Harry felt he just could not keep. Their brief argument had done nothing for either of them, except give Draco false hope.

Because of Harry's desire to become an Auror, studying was a large priority and he spent most of his time doing just that. If N.E.W.T's had not been so close, Harry knew that Draco would be suspicious of Harry's sudden interest in studying. Though Harry did not understand why Draco was not already suspicious, considering they had had this talk before. Hermione, however, was very suspicious. Hermione was one of the few people who knew Harry like the back of her hand. She knew his study habits when it came to the end of year exams. This was why she cornered him three days after Austin and Sierra left Hogwarts.

"Okay, Harry, what are you doing?"

Harry looked up from the books that were scattered around him and raised an eyebrow. "Knowing you, Hermione, that was a pretty stupid question, especially since we're in the library with books and parchment around me. It should be obvious what I'm doing."

"I know that you're studying, so don't get smart with me. I'm wondering _why_ you're studying."

"You probably know better than I do that N.E.W.T's are coming up--"

"In ten weeks," Hermione interrupted.

"See, I didn't know that, but I knew they were soon. I'm studying for them."

"But why?"

"Are you discouraging my studying, Hermione?" Harry asked slyly.

"No!" she exclaimed, affronted. "It's just that in every year before, you and Ron have never got down to studying more than a few weeks in advance, so I'm sorry if I'm a little suspicious right now. _Ron_ hasn't started yet."

"I just want to do well," Harry explained indifferently as he bent his head back over a potions book.

Hermione sat next to him, and studied, though it was Harry whom she was studying. "You're trying to become an Auror, aren't you?"

Harry bit his lip and looked up at her. "How did you know?"

"Because I've known for a long time that that's what you want to do." Harry grew nervous. "Don't worry, I won't tell Draco. You know... he's spoken to me about it a few times."

"He has?" Harry asked.

"Don't act so surprised. Draco comes to me a lot when he's unsure with something that has to do with you."

Despite his need to study, Harry set down his quill and pierced Hermione with a curious look. "What does he say about the Auror thing?"

"To be quite blunt, he doesn't want you to do it."

Harry sighed and looked away. "I already knew that, but it doesn't make me any happier to hear it.... Does he say why he doesn't want me to become an Auror?" He bit his lip, curious. He wondered if there was another reason that Draco never explained to him.

"He never comes out and says it to me, but he's just worried that you'll throw yourself into some situation that will get you hurt or killed. He doesn't want to lose you."

Harry sighed. "I knew that already, but he won't lose me! I'm careful and I'll probably always have somebody with me. Don't you think that I'm worried about him becoming an Auror, too?"

"I know you do, Harry. But maybe you should just listen to him."

Harry drew in a deep breath. "Draco is my fiancé, not my keeper. If I want to become an Auror, then I will be one. And I will not listen to you either. Why are you taking his side?"

"I'm not. I think you would make a great Auror. I'm just saying that you should listen to what he wants... not necessarily to act on what he says, but just to listen."

"I do listen to him," Harry sulked indignantly.

"I know," Hermione sighed. "It's just... believe it or not, Draco is very insecure about himself, and he needs to be reassured that what he's feeling about this whole thing isn't some weird paranoia, or that he's the only one in the relationship who cares enough."

"Draco isn't insecure and he knows that I care about him."

"If you think he's completely secure with himself, you have another thing coming, Harry. He is a very good actor and I have only picked this up when he's slipped some words, or has said something I wasn't supposed to hear. Anyway... I'm not asking you to rethink your career choice, I'm saying to rethink about how you're dealing with it."

"I didn't think I was doing a bad job dealing with it."

"Draco has the right to know what you're planning. You're getting married in exactly five months, Harry. You need honesty."

Harry sighed and let his head drop onto Hermione's shoulder. "I just want him to let me do what I want without all this drama."

Hermione wrapped an arm around Harry's shoulders and kissed the top of his head. "He wouldn't be Draco Malfoy without drama... I mean, have you ever noticed that the first three letters of Draco and the first two letters of Malfoy _spell_ 'drama'? It should tell you something."

Harry laughed, wrapping his arms around Hermione's waist. "I don't know how you even noticed something like that, Hermione. You're one perceptive witch."

"And what's this?" asked a voice behind them. "Harry, I thought you were supposed to be gay?"

Without lifting his head, Harry replied, "No, Ron, that was just a guise so that I could get into Hermione's skirt. We've been secretly dating for nearly a year now."

Another voice joined the conversation. "If my ring wasn't glowing right now, I'd be highly offended and might just kick you where the sun doesn't shine, Potter."

Harry's eyes darted to his homework and felt his face flushing. He looked up over Hermione's shoulder and smiled at Draco and Ron. "Well, that won't do you any good, Draco, when Hermione and I ask you to join a threesome."

"Thanks for the offer, but not interested. You see... I like boys."

"Plural?" Harry asked offended. "How many more fiancés do you need?"

"Shut up, Harry--"

"Well, why aren't I invited to the threesome?" Ron asked.

Harry raised an eyebrow while Draco burst out laughing. "I always knew you three were entertaining dreams of a threesome!" the blond exclaimed.

"Oh, honestly, I need Ginny here to even out the testosterone," Hermione said huffily, pushing Harry away from her.

Harry smirked. "Well, Ron, looks like Hermione is out... it's just you and me in the sack now."

Ron looked positively disgusted. "I wasn't serious, Harry."

"Neither was I," Harry laughed.

"Well..." Draco put his hands on his hips, and pouting. "Is somebody going to be getting some today, or am I sticking around for nothing?"

Harry smiled and turned back to his work. "Sweet, sweet, DraMa."

Hermione made eye contact with Harry and they both burst out laughing as Ron and Draco looked on, adorably confused.

The next day, as the Gryffindor team was practicing for the upcoming game against Hufflepuff, Professor McGonagall entered the pitch and called for Harry to land. Harry yelled to Ron to keep the practice going as he had caught the Snitch a few minutes ago and had not let it go again in favour of watching his team play. As Harry dismounted, he smiled slightly at the older woman.

"Professor McGonagall," he greeted amicably.

"Potter," she nodded her head. "Practice is going well, I hope?"

"Yes, as well as it ever does."

"Good. Remember that I'd like to keep that trophy in my study again this year."

Harry smirked. "No problem there, Professor. I'll even shine it for you when we win it, and if for some reason we don't win it.... I'll shine your shoes."

The strict professor offered a rare smile. "I'll take you up on that offer, Potter. Anyway, the reason I am here to see you is that Professor Dumbledore wants to see you in his office immediately."

Harry's face immediately fell. "Oh... well that's a damper on my day. Lately, he has been the bearer of bad news."

"Well, unfortunately, there isn't much happiness to report." The two began walking towards the castle. "Besides for your engagement to one Mr. Malfoy. Congratulations, Potter."

"Oh," Harry flushed. "Thank you."

"I'll be honest with you, Potter... I've seen strange things in my day, but never have I seen sworn enemies from Gryffindor and Slytherin work out those problems well enough to get married."

"Not to mention we're both boys," Harry pointed out dryly.

McGonagall's cheeks flushed a light pink but she levelled a glare at him. "I think you underestimate me, Mr. Potter. When I say I've seen things, it includes two young men being in love, but by all accounts, that isn't strange to me at all. What you have to understand about the wizarding world, is that we aren't all prejudiced against homosexuals. In fact, I'd say we are much more tolerant than Muggles, but you will meet the bigots out there. I, however, am not one of them."

"Thank you, Professor."

"Well, what are you thanking me for?" she asked incredulously as they neared Dumbledore's office. "I'm merely telling you that I'm not a bigot."

Harry smiled shyly. "Well... thank you for just accepting me for who I am."

McGonagall's eyes suddenly softened. "You're welcome, Harry. Now, I believe Professor Dumbledore has some news about your family." When Harry looked confused, she elaborated. "The Dursleys."

"Oh.... Oh!"

"Skivving snackboxes," McGonagall intoned with a bit of a disapproving tone. "I will see you in class, Potter."

"Yes, see you, Professor," Harry answered while hiding his grin.

He moved up the moving staircase to Dumbledore's office and knocked. From inside, muffled crying could be heard, and Harry furrowed his brow. Dumbledore's voice permitted him access and the Gryffindor stepped in.... and received the shock of his life.

"A... Aunt Petunia?" he exclaimed disbelievingly, staring at his crying aunt. Harry looked up at Dumbledore with an open mouth. "But... but... she's a Muggle, Professor. How can she be here?"

"Oh, we have our ways," Dumbledore said evasively. "Why don't you sit down, Harry. You can set your broom against my desk."

Harry looked down at his hand and found to his surprise that he was still holding his Firebolt XP. He slowly set it against Dumbledore's desk and sat in the chair next to his Aunt. "Is this what... what I think it's about?"

"Yes, I'm afraid so, Harry."

"What happened?"

"Well... I've been explaining to Mrs. Dursley that it was your parents who visited them a few days ago. The Dursleys weren't able to see them, of course. Anyway, Mrs. Dursley had gone out for groceries. When she returned, she was speaking with her husband when he was pushed to the ground by an invisible force. What proceeded to happen was what has been happening here at Hogwarts."

"So they got Uncle Vernon." Harry said tonelessly. To be honest with himself, he was not especially sorrowful for his uncle's disappearance, but he was sorry it happened. Harry did not wish for that to happen to anybody, even his uncle. The Gryffindor mostly felt sorry for his aunt, for whom he was feeling an unexpected desire to protect. Harry suspected it had to do with Dudley's wish for him to take care of her, but it was there all the same. Hesitantly, Harry reached over and grasped her hand.

"I'm sorry, Aunt Petunia. But, I mean... there is a pretty good guarantee that we'll get him back, right, Professor?" Harry looked to the older man hopefully, who reluctantly nodded.

"We're hoping so."

Aunt Petunia sniffed and took her hand away from Harry as if feeling contaminated. Harry looked away. "I want to go back home," she said quietly. "I did not want to come here in the first place. Take me home," she demanded.

"All in good time, Mrs. Dursley. Right now, I believe you need to be cared for and have a familiar face around you. I have arranged rooms for you to stay in for an indeterminable amount of time. Not only is this for your health, but for your safety. Harry has the suspects at bay, and the magical wards around Hogwarts will keep anybody else unfavourable out of the castle."

"I don't want to stay. I thought I made that clear."

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Dursley, but it's in the best interest for everybody."

"Please... Aunt Petunia," Harry spoke up hesitantly. "Dudley... Dudley asked me to take care of you in the last letter he wrote to me. If he thought this was safer for you, he'd want me to keep you here. Besides, don't you want to see things that he was interested in the last year of his life? I think he would have liked to know that you took interest in it."

Harry looked at Dumbledore who had a strange twinkle in his eye. "Not only see it... but practice a little, perhaps?"

Harry's eyes flew to Aunt Petunia in confusion and saw her tense up visibly. "I don't see how that's possible," she replied tightly.

"I think you do, Petunia. You just have to open your mind a little. Embrace something that could do wonders for you. Embrace Harry like you never have before... embrace Lily."

Harry was by now, so confused that he felt as though his mind was spinning in circles. "What's going on?" he demanded.

Aunt Petunia made eye contact with him for a few seconds before dropping her head in defeat. "Harry... your grandparents never knew, but your mother did, and that's one reason we never got along. She thought I was crazy for never giving it a shot. Then she got her letter and she accepted it without a second thought. My parents embraced it easily and loved her so much because of her being a witch... I rejected it because I thought everybody would think I was a freak, but that's not what happened. So, I started to resent Lily because of her willingness to accept the unknown."

"What are you saying?" Harry asked, voice low and shaking.

"Harry, don't you see? I received a letter to Hogwarts when I was eleven, but I threw it away. I'm a witch, Harry."

* * *

Please review! 


	14. The Gryffindor Sandwich

B A/N: /B I'm sorry for the terribly long wait on this chapter. I'm just as anxious as you are to see the coming chapters posted, and inevitably the ending. However, sometimes life just isn't kind, and one isn't able to do the things she is wants to do. I hope all my wonderful readers and reviewers will continue to be patient with me, because this will get posted before the two year mark arrives; I'm hoping at any rate. Let's all cross our fingers for Lindsay. :D P 

I also want to thank my wonderful beta, PadfootsBitch, and all the wonderful people who left a review. You all lit the fire under me, so thanks!

CENTER 

B Remember You /B BR 

I Chapter Fourteen /I P 

HR P 

/CENTER 

It was now a month after Aunt Petunia had confessed that she was a witch, and Harry was still mad. Actually, mad was a bit of an understatement. Angry, steamed, incensed.... The Gryffindor had not told anybody of this new revelation, but had brooded about it on his own. Ron, Hermione, and Draco tried to talk him into telling what was bothering him, but he would not budge on his decision to not speak of it.

Everybody in the school had noticed the Muggle woman who had come to Hogwarts to stay, and most thought it was just another woman from the Ministry that liked to dress in Muggle clothes. But Harry and his friends knew better. The three closest to Harry discussed it in hushed voices when he was not around, but did not broach the subject since it was obviously his aunt's presence that bothered him. It was now a common occurrence to see Harry storming about, slamming things with unnecessary force, or venting his anger on other people. It reminded Ron and Hermione disturbingly of their fifth year at Hogwarts.

To top off Harry's foul disposition, Voldemort was a constant headline in the newspaper. The Ministry apparently was not doing their job well enough and the Dark Wizard was slowly gaining more power over their world. Everybody was now on edge all the time, especially after one student from Ravenclaw had been called home because of her father's untimely death. The Ravenclaw's mother had returned home from a shopping trip to Diagon Alley to find the Dark Mark over their home and her husband's dead body inside. The reason for this attack was unknown, but Harry reasoned that Voldemort rarely needed a reason for anything; his power had grown so great that he did not seem to think that he needed to pick and choose his victims as he once had.

These two subjects were brought up one afternoon when Draco dragged Harry to tea with Severus Snape. _Again_, Harry thought bitterly.

Draco poured tea for the three of them as Harry sat stiffly in his chair. Snape observed him with no little amusement as he took the offered cup of tea. "Why so tense, Potter?"

"I'm not tense," Harry replied tensely, setting his cup down without drinking from it.

"You seem tense."

"I'm not tense," Harry insisted.

Draco tsked like a mother hen, making Snape smirk. Draco poured a bit of sugar into Harry's cup and stirred as he spoke. "He's been like that ever since his aunt showed up in March. It's getting bloody ridiculous. He won't tell anybody what his problem is."

Snape nodded and took a drink. "Of course. The Headmaster told me why Potter is upset about that. It turns out that Petunia Dursley is a witch."

Harry spluttered soundlessly for a few moments before regaining his composure. "I don't think that is any of your business to go spreading around! First of all, she certainly doesn't want anybody knowing, and second of all, I don't want to tell anybody!"

Snape raised an unconcerned eyebrow. "This tea needs something." With a wave of his wand, a bottle of Ogden's Firewhiskey flew toward him and he poured some in his cup. Draco reached for it, but Snape slapped his hand away. "Not you. You're still in school and I am your teacher." How many times do I have to remind you?

Draco pouted at his godfather, then turned to Harry. "Your aunt is a witch, Harry?" Draco asked, turning to Harry, his eyes brightening. "But that's great, isn't it?"

"No! It isn't great! She doesn't want to be a witch and... just never mind. I wouldn't expect anybody to understand. Can we just drop it? I don't want to talk about it."

"Fine... how about Voldemort?" Draco asked carelessly.

Both of his companions tensed up and Snape choked on his tea. "That's not a conversation people usually discuss over tea," Harry said lightly, taking a drink of his own, and humming contentedly when he found that Draco knew exactly how to make his.

"Well, I am curious what the old prude is doing. He marked me up, after all," continued Draco.

"In more ways than one," Harry replied quietly.

Snape's sharp black eyes snapped up to Harry. "What are you talking about?"

"Mentally," Draco said hurriedly, throwing a murderous look towards his fiancé.

Snape surveyed them both. "Potter... I know that your unusually dense self has managed to reveal something that Draco does not want me to know…." Snape threw Draco his nicest glare, a glare that normally sent first years crying from his classroom. "Now, I would suggest that you tell me what this cover-up is all about."

"Nothing. I'm sure it would be mentally traumatizing to work for Voldemort," Harry shrugged.

"If it helps, you can use words that are less than two syllables." Snape raised an eyebrow.

"That's it, I'm leaving," Harry said, getting up.

"Harry, sit down! Have you no manners?" Draco exclaimed.

"Some that I won't bother to use for Snape's sake."

"That's rude."

"So is what he said."

"Stop being childish. Sit down, you idiot."

Harry sat down, but very reluctantly. The three sat in a silence for a long while before Harry spoke up. "So... what exactly is Voldemort doing, besides what he normally does?"

"I wonder if it's possible to have a normal conversation with that Potter brat," Snape muttered to himself. "We needn't go into details, because we all know his methods. In fact, I'd rather not speak of it at all." Snape looked away with anger in his eyes.

"Yes, I understand, but I would like some information," Harry explained.

Snape sighed. "I can't tell you much, but I can tell you what I've told Draco. That man that he just killed, the Ravenclaw's father, was not mere coincidence. You know that Voldemort wants Draco's blood, as well as mine. That is why that man was killed."

"But... why? That doesn't make sense."

"I knew him back in school," Snape sighed. "He was a Slytherin and one of my friends. His name was Clinton Waver. I have been planning on going home this summer and I needed a secret keeper--"

"Why didn't you ask Dumbledore?"

"I have my reasons," Snape snapped irritably. "Now be quiet while I'm talking. I went to Clinton to ask for his help and he agreed to be our, that is, Draco's and my keeper. We had not had the chance to cast the spell, yet somehow, Voldemort found out what we were planning. Though, when Voldemort went to my friend's home, he found out that, indeed, nothing had been carried out yet. So... he killed Clinton before anything _could_ come of our plans." Snape shook his head. "Well, you can imagine that it was ignorant for Voldemort to even think that I would be anywhere but at Hogwarts at this time of year, but well... smart people can make stupid mistakes sometimes."

"It probably wasn't a mistake," Draco said bitterly. "He probably knew that the spell hadn't been carried out yet, so he went to our chosen keeper and killed him before we had a chance. He's trying to keep us in hiding, that's what he's doing. If he can't lure us out into the real world, then he might as well keep us at Hogwarts, which won't even be safe for that much longer. You know he'll find a way to get here soon enough."

Snape nodded. "The Headmaster has been setting up more wards to protect us, but _he_ will find a way."

"But he's scared of Dumbledore," Harry said. "Why would he..."

"That is what everybody says about him, Potter. It's the truth, but the truth is what makes him look weak. He does not want to look weak, so he will try to prove that by storming Hogwarts. The Dark Lord knows damn well that if he takes this castle, he will have the wizarding world falling at his feet. It is only a matter of what is holding up his plans. Besides, this place is even more of a stronghold now that the Minister of Magic is stationed here."

"Exactly," Draco put in. "He's probably drooling like a common Muggle dog at the thought of it, and I bet that this is what he is focusing his energies on right now." Draco snuck some Firewhiskey into his empty tea cup without the professor noticing and took a drink while eyeing his godfather, who was staring at the roaring fire. The blond, thinking it safe, then poured some into Harry's cup as well, who took a drink and winced.

"I saw that, Draco. No more." Snape said, not looking at them. The silence droned on and Snape poured himself some more Firewhiskey, and even absentmindedly pouring his godson and Harry some, which Draco grinned gleefully at, whilst Harry did not notice; he was beginning to truly worry about Voldemort, even more than he had already.

The silence was broken after a few minutes by a loud crackling, making all three men jump. Harry felt his heart plummet into his stomach. The last time Harry had been here for tea, almost the exact thing had happened. Only now, he knew something of what was happening, and it could not be good.

_"Please stay tuned for an important message."_

"It's the Wizarding Wireless," Snape said unnecessarily, getting up and going towards the fireplace where the wireless stood on a mantle and turned up the volume.

_"Please stay tuned for an important message,"_ it intoned again and then went back to a song by the Weird Sisters.

_"Good afternoon to those of you just joining the WWN. This is Wenda reporting with breaking news. We have just been informed that the five locations of Gringotts have been attacked by whom we believe to be Death Eaters. Currently a siege is taking place on Gringotts of __London__. We are not sure of the state of the bank, or the goblins at this point, but as of now, everything seems to be under as much control as they can be under the circumstances. Aurors and members of the Magical Law Enforcement squad have been dispatched and are now taking care of the problem.... Wait... hold on a moment...."_

The reporter stopped in her speech and during the interim, a burst of pain shot forth in Harry's scar and behind his eyelids simultaneously. He let out a cry of pain and clutched his head. White light erupted behind his eyelids and he knew that all four of his family members were attacking his mind again, but he did not know the reason. The pain quickly enveloped his entire body, cutting his nerves. It was nearly as painful as the Cruciatus curse when combined with the pain in his scar, which he vaguely recalled had not hurt for a very long time, due to the potions Snape gave him. Harry gave up whatever his family was trying to get from him and the pain receded, except for throbbing pain in his scar, which was nothing compared to what he had just experienced.

When the Gryffindor opened his eyes, he found he was on the floor and Draco was bending over him, worry sketched onto his face. "Harry? What happened?"

"Scar hurt..."

"Have you been taking your potions?" Snape asked sharply.

"I thought I was. Maybe I forgot this week.... Austin and Sierra took something from me... I think they're doing magic again."

Snape swore under his breath and the reporter began talking again. _"Yes, it has now been confirmed. Gringotts has been overtaken. You-Know-Who's forces now have control of the bank. Goblins have been refusing to leave and a pile of their bodies have been thrown outside by the Death Eaters. It is advised not to venture into Diagon or Knockturn Alley. Again... Gringotts of __London__ has been overtaken and it is advised not to make a trip to Diagon Alley until it is stable._"

Snape turned off the Wireless in disgust. "What's going to happen now?" Harry asked, wiping sweat from his forehead. "I mean... everybody's money..."

"Some people have made extra precautions and will be well off for a couple years at least..."

"You think this will be a couple years?" Harry asked incredulously.

"I didn't say it would, but it's quite possible. Anyway... Diagon Alley will be closed off, so Hogsmeade will be flooded with people, buying as much as they can without running out of money. It will be very tight with everything until the war is over, or we can take the bank back.. I doubt the goblins will last that long in there by themselves."

"No kidding," Draco said dryly, helping Harry back to his chair. "You heard Wendel... or whatever her name was, they were throwing the bodies out into a pile. There is a massacre going on in there."

They fell into silence again and Harry sighed, leaning into his chair. "So, Gringotts... what's next for Voldemort?"

"Well... I'd wager that the only really _important_ place they have left is Hogwarts."

Harry bit his lip as he met eyes with Draco. "I think we may have to put off our wedding, Draco," he said quietly.

"What's coming will come, Harry. We'll get married and meet whatever comes when it does."

Harry smiled softly. "Hagrid said that to me at the end of fourth year."

"Well, it doesn't make it any less true even if the big oaf did say it. And I'm concerned that he wants to get married to you, Harry," Draco said seriously. "He might crush you when you try to have sex.

"Shut up, Draco." Harry shook his head. "That's very disturbing."

"You think that's disturbing? You should see the pictures running through my head right now!"

"I'd rather not."

Draco sulked. "I wish you did. It's really gross."

Over the next few days, a hushed silence fell over the students of Hogwarts as they anticipated the events to come. The wizarding world was slowly unravelling at the seams, and everybody was fearing for the future of not only their world, but the Muggle world as well.

After a particularly wearing night with Draco in their classroom – in which both of them tossed and turned for hours, throwing limbs over each other and complaining of not being able to sleep - both boys dragged themselves down to breakfast. Draco did not even bother with going to the Slytherin table and followed Harry to the Gryffindor portion of the Hall. Ron beckoned them to sit in the empty seats across from himself and Hermione. Harry gratefully walked to them and gingerly began to sit down. But before he could even bend his knees, Draco stopped him.

"Hold on, Harry."

Harry turned around in confusion and watched as Draco surreptitiously pulled out his wand and cast a spell on the hard surface of his seat. When Harry raised an enquiring eyebrow, Draco shrugged. "Cushioning charm," he whispered. The blond's face slowly turned pink and he looked away as if ashamed. "I've had practice with the charm, you know. It's like sinking in goo because I've become so good at it."

Draco quickly began to sit down, but Harry stopped him and pulled the Slytherin to him. "Thank you," Harry whispered, "but really, I'm all right, Draco. It was nothing."

Draco bit his lip. "But you _bruised_. I... I well, didn't mean to kick you so hard."

"I'm feeling fine, Draco," Harry assured. "Stop being such a ninny. I've had far worse injuries, as you well know. The only thing you should feel sorry about is waking me up." He grinned stupidly. "I'm sore, but it's nothing I can't handle. Besides, I know you don't feel _that_ sorry for kicking me. You laughed and then pinched my arm."

The Slytherin stifled a grin and tried to look remorseful. "Let's eat breakfast, hmm?" Draco nodded, so Harry sat down and found that it was indeed like sinking in goo. The Gryffindor sighed with content, and had to stifle a small laugh as he looked sideways at Draco.

"Harry? You all right?" Ron asked.

"Yes... my feet hurt is all," Harry lied. "It feels good to sit."

Draco snickered into his pumpkin juice as Harry began to pile food onto both their plates. As the two ate, Harry let his foot twine around Draco's ankle, and travel up and down his calf.

"...Booked the pitch for practice today," Ron was saying. "Nobody else has it, so what time do you want to go out today, Harry?"

Harry took a drink from his juice. "Do we have to practice today? I forgot that I said I wanted to have it. I'd like to make it a short one though. I have things I want to do."

"Like what?" Ron asked suspiciously.

"Erm -- homework."

"Homework?" Ron asked distastefully. "You've been doing a lot of that lately. What's wrong with you?"

Draco sneered. "I don't think anybody would expect you to understand, Weasley, seeing as how the very concept of homework is foreign to you. Why don't you try cracking a book once in a while and maybe you could get some decent grades?"

"Draco," Harry hissed.

"What? I'm telling the bloody truth. If he could open his eyes, he would see how smart you are being for opening up the books and studying this early for the N.E.W.T's. I thought Granger and I were the only ones with common sense, but I think some of it might have rubbed off on you. Actually, I know it did because I haven't heard you say anything about becoming an Auror for a long time."

Harry felt his insides burn with sudden anger. The tense fear, hopelessness, anxiety and utter despair that he had been feeling over Voldemort and his exams the past few months snapped. "Why is it that you don't want me to be an Auror? Do you think I'm not good enough to be one? Do you think I don't have what it takes? What is it, Draco? I want to know because I'll tell you something.... The only reason I've been studying as much as I have been is because I'm doing it so that I can become an Auror--"

"What?" Draco asked, his voice low in restrained anger.

"See? You're pissed off because I want to be one. I'm sorry if it makes you angry, but as of now, that's all I see myself doing. That's all that interests me. What else am I supposed to do? I'm not good at anything but Quidditch and maybe battling it out with Voldemort once in a while. I think the latter may come in handy when I become an Auror. I love you, Draco, more than you'll ever know, but I won't let you stop me from being what I want to be."

Draco's jaw clenched and unclenched as he glared murderously at Harry. "Fine!" he exploded, pushing his chair back, knocking it to the ground. "Train to be a bloody Auror. See if I care when you get yourself killed! In fact, I hope I'm there, so that I can say I told you so."

With those last words, Draco stormed from the Hall, curious eyes following after him all around. Harry looked down and stared at his half full plate unseeingly. His vision began to blur, but he blinked twice and cleared his throat. "Well... it's good to know that."

"Know what?" Ron asked cautiously.

"That he doesn't have any faith in me at all... and that he doesn't seem to care if I die or not."

Harry pushed himself up from his chair. "Harry," Hermione pleaded with him, standing up from her chair as well. "You know he didn't mean that. He's just having normal fears. I mean... I know you worry about him becoming an Auror and all because it's a dangerous profession."

"But the difference is, is that I know he has enough skill to keep from being killed, but he doesn't think I can at all."

"Sure he does. He just isn't very good at showing or saying what he's feeling."

Harry tightly closed his eyes. "Hermione... I don't want to hear it. He can just… go turn himself into Voldemort for all I care."

"Harry!" Hermione exclaimed, clearly scandalized.

Harry did not mean it, of course, and he had to try very hard to not turn around and take the words back so that they didn't get back to Draco .He had left to find some peace, but it was not to be found. Immediately outside of the doors, stood Aunt Petunia, fidgeting slightly by pulling on her shirt sleeve. The action seemed so out of place on her that Harry stopped and stared. Normally when he saw her, he turned around and walked in the opposite direction until he lost her, which never took very long since she did not know the castle as well as Harry did.

"Harry," she greeted, nodding her head at him. "I would like to speak with you."

"Sod off," Harry spit out, anger still piqued after his fight with Draco. He began to walk around his aunt but she caught his arm and glared dangerously at him.

"I may not be your guardian anymore, Harry, but I am still your aunt. You will show respect towards me."

Harry glared defiantly at her, knowing that she held no real power over him anymore. She could not lock him in Dudley's second bedroom, or stuff him in the cupboard under the stairs. She was technically in his territory now and he could do whatever he wanted... But it seemed that he was even mistaken in that assumption. Sirius Black walked up from behind Aunt Petunia and levelled Harry with a glare that thoroughly shocked the younger man as Sirius had never sent a glare his way before... at least one that looked quite so menacing as this one.

"Harry, Petunia has been wanting to speak with you for quite some time now and I think you owe her that chance."

"Owe her?" Harry asked incredulously. "I owe her nothing! You don't know the half of what she did to me while I grew up and it was all because I'm a wizard... and it turns out she's a witch! That doesn't make a whole lot of bloody sense to me. No.." Harry shook his head, pulling from his aunt's grasp. "I won't speak with her."

"Harry," Sirius admonished. "I know how your mother felt about Petunia... they were very bitter towards each other, but I know that deep down, or maybe not even that deep down, Lily loved Petunia. If there was a chance that her son could make amends with her, I'm sure Lily would be very happy about it and accept the idea with open arms."

"Don't bring my mother into this," Harry hissed venomously.

"Your mother has been a part of this ever since Petunia rejected her letter to Hogwarts, so there is no possible way _not_ to bring her into this," Sirius said calmly.

"Well, she's not alive anymore, is she?" Harry asked tightly. "It's now between Aunt Petunia and me because mum doesn't have a say in the matter anymore."

Harry could tell that he was pushing it now because he could see a vein in Sirius' neck begin to pop out. Sirius told Harry as much. "Harry," he said in a calm, collected voice. "You... are pushing the line very far here."

"Yeah well..." Harry began, completely lashing out, "you pushed the line really far last year when you almost killed me, didn't you? Great job at being my godfather. I bet my parents would be proud. Why do you even bother?" As soon as he said it, Harry immediately regretted it when pain clearly flashed across his godfather's face. Aunt Petunia was looking at Sirius curiously.

Sirius took a deep breath. "I never wanted to do any of the things I did last year. I've told you that many times. I've apologised many times and I have always accepted that our relationship may never be the same because of it, but if you can't accept my apology..." Sirius shook his head as he blinked rapidly. "I've tried my hardest to make it up to you, Harry, but if what I've given you and the time I've spent isn't enough... Well, there isn't anything I can do about it, is there? I'm sorry I've wasted my time and yours." Sirius put a hand on Harry's head. "And all this time I thought I was doing something right.... Well, it's good to know now. Now I can stop trying so damned hard."

Harry felt his chest restrict painfully as he watched his godfather walk away. "Sirius!" he cried out brokenly. Without turning around, Sirius shook his head and kept walking. Aunt Petunia looked torn between staying with Harry and leaving with Sirius, but she soon made her decision. She grabbed Harry's elbow.

"If you want to speak with me, I'm in the rooms next to Sirius'. I'll be there if you want to listen to me... and vice versa," she added uncertainly. She hurried away after Sirius, leaving Harry. But as soon as she was out of sight, a concerned voice spoke.

"Harry? What just happened between you and Sirius?"

The dark-haired Gryffindor slowly turned around to find Ron and Hermione standing behind him. Harry felt something constricting in his chest. It had been such a good enough day. He had woken in Draco's arms after the fitful night, and waking with Draco was always a good thing. They had fooled around a bit before deciding to go down to breakfast... and then it all went downhill from there.

Harry was now having a terrible, no good day. N.E.W.T's were approaching, Voldemort was after him and everybody else who had "unworthy" blood running through their veins, Harry had an imaginary family on the loose, wreaking havoc, Draco was now mad at him, Sirius was mad... sad... disappointed, and would probably not want Harry back in his Manor this coming summer. Despite his best efforts to keep his emotions at bay until he was alone, a dry sob escaped his throat and he felt his knees buckle, though he managed to keep himself standing.

"I can't!" he exclaimed in despair. "I can't do this anymore..." His voice was raised in a yell, but it quieted down considerably with his next words. "I'm so tired. I don't want to do any of it. I don't want to take the exams, I don't want to be responsible for killing Voldemort, I don't want to deal with my imaginary family, I want Draco to understand me, I want... I want to be able to have a functional day. I don't want to fight with Sirius."

Ron moved forward as Harry's knees began to buckle again. "Oh god," he choked out. "I messed up so bad with Sirius, Ron. He hates me and he thinks I hate him. I could never... could never hate him." Ron was holding his arms out on either side of Harry, just in case he fell and they looked so inviting at the moment that Harry did fall into them without thinking. Ron stiffened as his best friend leaned against him, trying to gain some comfort from somebody. Harry vaguely heard Hermione make a noise of encouragement and Ron awkwardly wrapped his arms around the shorter boy. "I'm such an idiot. Sirius will never forgive me."

Hermione soon joined in on their hug, hugging Harry from behind and leaning her head on his shoulder. "Of course he will," she whispered quietly. "He loves you more than anything."

Harry thought about those simple words for a few moments and despite his best efforts, he began to cry. Ron was apparently in a state of utter bewilderment as to what to do because as soon as this happened, he muttered, "oh no... oh, bloody hell."

"He does," Harry sobbed out quietly. "I'm such a bloody fool. I can't believe I said that to him."

Hermione continued to mutter nonsensical comfort words as Harry hid his face from other students in Ron's chest. As his crying settled, his embarrassment rose considerably. It was only made worse when Seamus and Dean walked by.

"Gryffindor sandwich lovin'!" Seamus yelled out joyfully. "Lemme in! Come on Dean, you get the other side, I'll get this side!"

Harry then felt two bodies collide onto either side of him as Seamus and Dean joined in on their hug. "Mmm... meatball Harry sandwich," Dean whispered playfully in Harry's ear. He blushed and despite his sour mood, laughed.

"Not to mention the tomato in front of him... uh... Hermione's the bread--"

"Oh, thanks," Hermione said sarcastically.

"Don't underestimate the bread, Hermione. It's what holds the sandwich together. Now... Dean is the pepper, and I'm the spice."

When Seamus finished his narration as to whom would be what, Harry smiled a little into Ron's chest. "I wish I had a Gryffindor sandwich right now. We sound quite delicious," he muttered, smiling.

"Ah, but you do," Seamus said and when Harry opened his left eye to look at him, Seamus had raised a finger and was tapping his nose. "You're in one.... Though I don't know how good that can be. We're probably in danger of getting eaten right now because we're such a good looking lot." Seamus looked around surreptitiously and when he looked back to Harry, his expression changed to concern. "I think the crowd has thinned out. Feeling better, Harry?"

Harry was a bit taken aback but he felt a sudden rush of warmth and gratitude toward his two dorm mates for completely shielding his moment of weakness from everybody. "A bit, yes. Thank you both for doing that."

"Ah, it was nothing, Harry," Dean said, still holding onto the Gryffindor sandwich. "You should know we'd do anything for you."

Hermione sniffed against Harry's shoulder. "That was really nice of you two."

Seamus began to blush slightly. "It was nothing. I'd do it again if I had the chance. Let's get up to the Common Room now."

As if in an unspoken agreement, Harry's four friends surrounded him so that he was still in the middle as they made their way to the marble staircase. Seamus was skipping merrily to Harry's right, Dean was dreaming to himself, Ron was behind Harry now, stepping on his heels, and Hermione was leading the way. As Harry stepped onto the staircase, he looked through his guard of friends and saw Draco standing outside of the Great Hall doors, watching them make their way to the Gryffindor tower.

"Did Draco see what happened just now with Sirius?" Harry asked nervously to nobody in particular as Draco made eye contact. The blond glared slightly before turning on his heel and walking to the dungeons.

"I think so," Ron said from behind. "I think he may have been coming back up to see you to have a few last words when he caught your fight with Sirius. He said something to Hermione and me… but I'd rather not repeat it."

"Wonderful," Harry said quietly. Seamus, Dean, and Ron put a hand on his shoulder as they continued to the seventh floor. Harry was never more thankful to have his friends on his side as he was right then.

April flew past in a blur of unusually warm weather and premature flowers. But in the last week of April, Harry barely noticed this at all. His mental and health state were rapidly deteriorating as he stopped eating and stopped sleeping. Dark circles and bags formed under his eyes, and Harry could actually feel his stomach folding in on itself as it attempted to eat itself. No matter how hard Harry tried, Draco still would not speak to him, Sirius was no where to be found when he was not in classes... and this did not bode well with any hope that Harry had left of making amends with his godfather.

The following Friday was his first Defence Against The Dark Arts class since their falling out and Harry was extremely nervous. The dark-haired Gryffindor followed Ron and Hermione into the classroom timidly, hoping to get that usual friendly acknowledgement. When the silly grin was not forthcoming, Harry deflated visibly as he felt a sorrow wrench through his chest like a knife. Sirius was unusually gruff that day in his teachings and no matter how many times Harry attempted to make eye contact, it never worked. Sirius was adamant about not looking his way. This made Harry very upset. His godfather was acting like a child in ways, but yet in others, he was acting just as Harry expected him to do in this situation. What the younger Gryffindor had said had insinuated that he did not like the job Sirius was doing as godfather, so Sirius was just doing what he thought his godson wanted.

But it wasn't what Harry wanted.

Sirius made them do practical work for the last half hour of class and though Harry usually excelled in this part, he found his head drooping onto the desk in front of him. His body was almost screaming for sleep and when sleep claimed him, he was not going to deny the simple pleasure.

"Mr. Potter!" Sirius roared suddenly.

Harry's head snapped up and he blinked owlishly. "Erm -- yes, Professor?"

"Please refrain from sleeping in my classroom. I know that the class work might not be up to your standards, but it'll have to do. Ten points from Gryffindor."

"Harry!" Hermione admonished as he visibly deflated once more. "What are you doing? Even I admit that the best class to fall asleep in is History of Magic!"

"Hermione, give him a break," Ron said gently. "The poor bloke doesn't sleep anymore."

"I'm sorry, Hermione," Harry apologised. "I really am just so tired. I can hardly keep my eyes open anymore."

Hermione glanced up at Sirius, who was unusually still as he stood in front of the blackboard, not writing anything, and then leaned towards Harry. "Is this all about Sirius? You need to speak with him."

"He's never around anymore, Hermione!" Harry exclaimed desperately. "Don't you think I want to?"

"I don't think you're looking hard enough, Harry. Have you gone to his chambers?"

"No," Harry admitted sheepishly. "I just don't think it would be right if I went there now that we've fallen out."

Hermione sighed as she leaned away from Harry, returning to her work. "Suit yourself, but don't say I never told you to go to his chambers."

Class ended a few minutes later and Harry purposely lingered behind a little in the hopes that Sirius would call him, but as Harry trailed miserably out the door after the other students, he glanced back at Sirius to find him working diligently at his desk, not sparing one look towards his godson. A last Hufflepuff hurried from the room and steps before the door, Harry stopped. He heard Sirius' quill stop scratching on the parchment he was writing on as he anticipated Harry's next move.

Harry glanced over his shoulder once more and saw Sirius looking back. They stared each other in the eye for a few moments. Harry took a deep, wavering breath. "I didn't mean it," he whispered and then hurried from the room.

He managed to sleep three hours that night and was feeling refreshed for the trip to Hogsmeade after breakfast. Though he and Draco had not made up yet, Harry was still planning on buying a birthday present for the blond since it was the following Wednesday. Hermione offered to help him look for one while Ron generously offered to meet up with them at the Three Broomsticks later in the day. Harry had laughed at this, which made his friends smile in relief, as it had been the only laugh they had heard from him in over a week.

"Can you believe it?" Ron asked as they trekked their way down a hill to Hogsmeade. Harry could see the small wizarding village from where they were and it looked beyond crowded since it was one of the only places wizards and witches could shop without fear. "This is our last trip to Hogsmeade of our entire career at Hogwarts. The next time we come here... we'll likely be on our own."

"I know," Hermione agreed. "It's a little surreal and sad, but I'm happy all the same. I can't wait to get out of school so that I can make a difference."

"What are you doing, Hermione?" Harry inquired.

"I'm planning on taking S.P.E.W. a little further. Since you two won't help me, I'm going to find others who support the cause. I've actually found a couple Ravenclaws in our year that are more than willing to help. We hope to get a few laws passed in the Ministry. I mean, if you think about it, bigotry against magical creatures will be a big step towards unification when Voldemort is defeated." Harry smiled at her bravery and she smiled a little as well. "It's the bigotry that got us into this mess in the first place , with pureblood and mudbloods and whatnot. If we can find a way to work together with other creatures like house elves and maybe find some common ground with goblins, the wizarding world would be much better off."

By this time, Ron was opening and closing his hand like a mouth and pretending to mouth her words while she spoke earnestly to Harry. Harry, though he had always found this subject extremely boring, no less so than he did now, thought Hermione did have a point and was glad that somebody was willing to try for unification.

"That's great Hermione," Harry said honestly. "I may not be interested in doing it myself but I'm glad that you are."

Ron stared at Harry as if he had grown another head, but did not say anything about it. "I'm off," he said instead. "I see Seamus and Dean over there. I'll meet up with you later."

Hermione and Harry waved their friend off before Hermione turned to the boy beside her. "Okay, so what were you thinking to get Draco?"

"Well... I got him dragon hide boots for Christmas, and he really loved those. I was thinking of getting him some dragon hide trousers or something. But I'm not sure he would like those. At any rate, I think he needs to be spoiled a little."

Hermione crinkled her nose. "Even more than he already is?"

"Was, you mean. I'm a little worried about him actually. He hasn't spoken to Narcissa in nearly a year, or maybe even more than that and it's starting to affect him. I know he is always arrogant about the whole money thing, but I honestly don't know if he's getting his money now. I think his parents might have left him high and dry."

Hermione bit her lip. "Are you sure?"

"Nearly positive. I noticed a few weeks ago that his robes are becoming a bit frayed, but I didn't say anything. It would probably ruin his ego," Harry said affectionately.

"Well... then we're going clothes shopping for the poor bugger." She shook her head. "Poor and Draco Malfoy should not go in the same sentence, you know?"

Harry shrugged. "It's kind of becoming. It puts him on a more human level." Hermione agreed on this and they entered Gladrags in silence. Harry, admittedly did not know a thing about fashion, and he did not really care at all, either. This was why he was glad for Hermione's company today. While she was not the most fashion conscience witch that Harry had ever known, she could spot what was good and what was not. Even more important than that, could spot clothing that Draco would like.

"So, how much are you planning on spending?" Hermione inquired as she thumbed through some robes.

"I don't have a set price I suppose. I was thinking of getting him three or four pairs of robes."

Hermione raised an eyebrow. "When you said spoiled, I didn't know you were going to shower him with clothing."

Harry rolled his eyes. "That's an exaggeration, Hermione. Besides, he'll be my husband soon... aren't married couples supposed to buy their spouse clothing when they need it? I'll start now since he needs them."

The witch's eyes glowed with amusement. "How utterly domestic of you."

Harry's face fell. "Shut up," he said sourly. "Why can't I buy a birthday present without you teasing me?"

"I don't tease you much. Why can't I have fun?"

"At my expense?"

"Oh, fine. I'm sorry, Harry. I won't do it again."

A witch hurried over to them from a backroom. "May I help you?" she asked.

"Yes," Hermione said before Harry could get a word in. "We're here to buy a few robes as a birthday gift."

"Do you have the measurements?"

"Well... no," Hermione admitted. "But I think that he and Harry are pretty much the same size. Harry's shoulders are a little broader and Harry's hips have less flare to them as well...."

"I'm also two inches taller than he is."

The witch bit her lip, eyeing Harry up and down. "What's the lad's name? Maybe I can get a visual in my head of his size."

"Draco Malfoy," Harry replied.

The witch's eyebrow raised and she gestured to a back corner of the shop. "Well... he's pouting in the back of the store. Why don't you give him an early birthday present so that I can measure him properly?"

The witch bustled away as two fifth year girls walked in, giggling and ready to buy clothes. Hermione pushed Harry towards where the woman had gestured. "Go on!" she encouraged. "You know he'll always be ready to accept an apology when there are presents involved!"

"I'm not apologising for wanting to be an Auror!" Harry protested vehemently.

"Oh, Harry... I didn't say that. Apologise for keeping it from him. I think that's a large reason why he's so angry with you."

Harry huffed, but he obliged without another word and ventured to the back of the store. There was a darkened corner in the back right side of the store where Draco did indeed seem to be moping as he looked at clothes. Harry approached him carefully and laid a hand on the blond's shoulder. Draco jumped slightly and looked around. When he saw that it was Harry, he scowled and brushed the hand off.

"What do you want?" the Slytherin asked gruffly.

"Well, I'm shopping, so obviously I want clothes.'

Draco levelled him a glare. "What are you doing in this area... where I am?"

"I came to see you... because you're my fiancé, and I miss you."

"Why are you always such a sap?"

"I'm only speaking the truth." Harry sighed dramatically. "Look... I'm sorry for not telling you what I've been planning, but I'm not sorry for wanting to do something after Hogwarts, other than play the good housewife. Right now, I don't want to hear you say anything at all. We'll talk later about it all. I'm buying you a birthday present today and we need your measurements."

Draco's eyes brightened considerably. "Birthday present? Measurements? Are you buying me clothes, Harry?"

Harry smiled fondly at the blond boy and took his hand. "Yes, I am buying you clothes. Merlin knows you need them."

Draco looked affronted and was on the verge of retorting in his own defence but Harry beat him to it. "Look... I'm going to be your husband in just a few months. You might as well not keep anything secret from me, no matter how terribly you do it.... But I do have eyes and I can see that your robes are fraying. Draco? Is your mother giving you money?"

Draco pouted and pulled his hand away. When Harry impatiently tapped his foot on the ground, the blond huffed and glared at Harry. "Well, if you must know. You're absolutely correct. She stopped sending me money and she closed my vault so that I can't get any money out. I'm poorer than Weasley, okay? Happy?"

"You had your own vault?"

"Yes," Draco confirmed. "You do as well, don't you?" He rolled his eyes.

"Right. Well... what about Snape? Why doesn't he buy you any clothes?"

Draco flushed pink and looked away. "He offered, but I lied and said my mum was sending me money--"

"Draco! Why would you do that? He'll find out somehow."

"Look... can we not talk about this in public? Besides, I'm still mad at you."

In an act that to Harry, proved his declaration false, Draco leaned forward and took Harry in a soft kiss. The blond moved away for a moment but changed his mind and kissed the Gryffindor again, deepening it and entwining his fingers into Harry's unruly hair. "Mmm..." he murmured against the other boy's lips, "but I've missed you, so much."

Harry could not help the grin that spread over his face. "Now look who's the sap?"

"All you."

"Okay, break it up, you two," Hermione interrupted. "We have shopping to do."

Both boys turned and glared, though Harry's glare was only in jest. Draco's was in earnest. "We were just getting to the good part, Granger," Draco drawled.

"I won't even ask. Now, come along you two."

Draco obviously remembered that he was getting an early birthday present because his eyes lit up in glee before he started throwing robes that he was interested in into Hermione's arms. Harry followed around with disinterest, and was only too happy when Draco came up for air two hours later. The Gryffindor was not happy however, when he realised that Draco had picked out ten different robes - not to mention, very expensive robes.

"Draco... narrow it down to five."

The blond pouted. "Ten."

"_Five_."

"Nine."

"Five."

"Eight."

"Five."

"Seven."

"_Draco!_ Five robes and that is that. I may be well off already but I'm still not paying for that many pairs of robes at one time when you don't even need them all! Pick out five so that we can leave and meet the others at the Three Broomsticks."

Harry dimly noticed that as they fought for nearly the next ten minutes, that Hermione was sitting in a corner, silently laughing at them.

The Gryffindor boy poked her in the ribs as they left the shop with a joyful Slytherin boy alongside them (who just happened to be holding a shopping bag filled with no less than seven pairs of robes and a pair of dragon hide trousers). Hermione merely grinned and walked a few paces ahead of the two boys as they made their way to the Three Broomsticks. Harry opened his mouth to speak with Draco but was interrupted when loud screams permeated the air.

The dark-haired boy had his wand whipped out instantly and was warily looking around for the commotion. Hermione and Draco followed his lead, though they were both a bit slower to react. Draco dropped his bags and moved closer to Harry as if to protect the Gryffindor. "Oh..." Hermione moaned, bouncing on the balls of her feet anxiously. "I just knew something would happen."

"You don't know anything is wrong yet, Granger," Draco snapped irritably. "It could just be a few students playing pranks on each other."

No sooner had the blond said this, that several Death Eaters appeared from the side of Honeydukes. All three students swore hotly under their breath as more people began screaming. Some wizards and witches who could Disapparated did so, while others began herding their small children to a shop so they could Floo back home as quickly as possible. Harry looked around frantically at the overcrowded town.

"There's too many people here!" he cried out. "They were anticipating this and they were waiting for it. The Death Eaters wanted a large massacre."

"Always so bloody happy, aren't you, Harry?" Draco asked angrily, though his voice was laced with anxiety. The blond's head was whipping around, looking at his surroundings with surprising speed and Harry actually began to worry that his boyfriend would give himself whiplash.

The green light of the Killing Curse was flying about everywhere and Harry could hear the dull thud of bodies as they fell to the ground. He also tried, but failed miserably to _not_ notice how one Death Eater in particular was making a path straight for Draco. Draco saw this too and looked to Harry. "Let's get out of here, yeah?"

"Yeah," Harry agreed fervently before grabbing the arms of Hermione and Draco and leading them away from the commotion as fast as possible. His plan did not work out as well as Harry would have liked. The more he tried leading them _away_ from the fray, the more he led them _into_ it. From their standpoint, there did not seem to be a safe way out, and the Death Eater was slowly advancing on them. This particular follower of Voldemort was alternating between defending himself and sending curses towards the two trio. When Harry led them into yet another brick wall, so to speak, he turned just in time to see a curse sent by the Death Eater. There were blue flames hurling towards them at an alarming rate and he only just managed to get both of his companions to duck in time. Instead of hitting them, the flames hit Zonko's, which was the building directly behind them and the entire building became an inferno within moments. The force of air that came at them when it burst into flames sent Harry and Draco flying away from the building. They landed painfully on top of somebody else and it took a few moments to recollect their senses. Draco was quicker, however, and Harry only fully took notice when he heard the blond cry out in dismay.

"Hermione!" Draco called, which, had the circumstances been different, would have shocked Harry thoroughly for the use of Hermione's first name.

Harry jumped off the body beneath him when he saw Hermione being taken by the Death Eater. The girl made eye contact with Harry and smiled before the man threw her into the flames of the building. "No!" Harry cried out as Hermione's screams pierced the air. "Hermione!" Draco held the Gryffindor back as he leapt forward, intent on going in after his friend, but it was already too late because her screams had faded and the only other sounds were the crackling of the fire and other people screaming from all around.

"Hermione," a voice croaked from the ground.

Harry whipped his head down and saw that it was on Ron that he and Draco had landed . The dark haired boy leaned down and checked for any major injuries before pulling his friend up. "Come on, Ron... we need to go," Harry choked out.

"But... Hermione..."

"There isn't anything we can--"

Draco never got to finish his sentence because the Death Eater had advanced any of them realising and had taken the blond into a choke hold. Draco gasped desperately for air as Harry and Ron turned their wands on the Death Eater. "Let him go!" Harry demanded fiercely.

The Death Eater whispered a spell so quietly that even if they had heard it, they wouldn't have time to react. The next thing Harry knew was that his wand hand felt as if it had been dunked into frozen water, and he could not move, or cast any spells. Ron seemed to have had the same spell on him because he looked at Harry frantically. Draco was still struggling against the tight hold on his neck.

"I don't think so, Potter," came a low, even voice from beneath the mask.

"Lucius," Draco rasped out upon recognition of the voice.

"Very good, _son_."

"You killed Hermione, you bastard!" Ron shouted, as he tried in vain to get his hand working again.

"Good riddance, too."

"Let. Him. Go," Harry whispered tensely.

"I already said no, Potter. He is my son and as such, will obey me. I would be a hypocrite to admonish him for taking a boy for a lover, but I think I'm within bounds to punish him for which boy he has taken for a lover.... And if I am not mistaken... _fiancé_. Forgive me... I will be sending out my congratulations in the owl post."

"Don't waste your breath," Harry snarled out, attempting to take his wand with his left hand, but his fingers seemed to tighten with each attempt to take the wand out.

"Hmm..." Lucius pondered as he tightened his choke hold on Draco. "Actually, I have quite a nice idea in mind. I've been planning on taking back what rightfully belongs to the Dark Lord, and I think you might enjoy seeing that, wouldn't you?"

To Harry's utter horror and disgust, Lucius transferred his wand to the hand holding Draco and brought his free hand around to fondle Draco's front. Draco whimpered and tried moving away but he was so caught up in the choke hold that he gagged when he tried to move.

"You sick bastard!" Ron spoke for Harry. "I can't believe you would touch your own son like that!"

Lucius turned his attention to Ron and Harry could sense the sneer that was on his face. "Weasley... I wouldn't expect for you to understand my relationship with my son. I won't dignify you with an answer. I'll leave your demented mind to do the work for you."

Harry was, by now, beyond fed up. It seemed as though the other Death Eaters had been told to stay away from them when Lucius was with them because nobody was attacking them, and the Aurors that had Apparated into the area, unnoticed by Harry a few minutes ago, had not reached them yet. Harry opened his mouth to yell for help, but it seemed Lucius had seen his intention. The older man sent another curse at him and Harry's mouth was frozen open in a yell, and moments later, so was Ron's.

"If you boys will excuse me... I'm sure that Draco needs to be cleansed after he has had the likes of Potter touching him. But don't you worry, Potter... I'll have him nice and ready in no time." To show what he was speaking of, Lucius waved his wand in the air, and an apparition of a bony hand appeared – a hand that resembled Voldemort's – and it waggled two fingers in the air. Lucius turned Draco around so that his face was stuffed in his father's robes, and the apparition pushed against Draco's rear. Harry could feel the anger pulsating off of him as Draco tried to wiggle away and whimpered in fear once more.

Just then, Aurors began to swarm them and Lucius knew that he would have to leave or be caught again. Before he Disapparated with Draco, Draco turned his head and looked at Harry. "I love you, Harry" he whispered, but Harry heard him, though never got to say it back before the blond disappeared with his father.

Harry fell to his knees as an Auror took the curse off his hand and mouth. Ron fell down beside him and they leaned their shoulders together. The two sat in silence for a few minutes until Nymphadora Tonks kneeled in front of them and offered a forced smile. Harry vaguely noticed that her hair was in a long, green ponytail while her nose had been changed to that of a Muggle perception of a witch's nose, minus the wart.

"Let's get you two back to Hogwarts, huh?"

They could only vaguely nod and stand up. They passed Draco's forgotten shopping bags on the way back and Ron helped carry them. Mad Eye Moody joined the three on the trek back to Hogwarts. Harry could feel the large eye staring at him, but it hardly fazed him this time.

"Don't look so glum, you two," he said gruffly. "In the magical world, things aren't always what they seem and your friend Granger was a smart girl."

Ron sniffed but Moody paid him no mind as he clapped a hand on Harry's shoulder.

"We're on it, Potter. Don't you worry about a thing. We're on it. We'll get your boyfriend back."

Harry did not feel comforted.


	15. Lucius

When Ron and Harry returned to the castle, they were shepherded to the hospital wing to be checked for any injuries sustained during the Death Eater attack. When none were found, they were then led to their Common Room so that the injured people could be tended to. Witches and wizards from Hogsmeade, as well as the students, with lesser injuries were being treated by Madam Pomfrey, while the critically injured patients were sent to St. Mungo's for immediate care.

The two Gryffindors sighed with grief as they sat down on the couch in front of the fire. The common room was nearly empty as most students were congregating in the Great Hall, awaiting news on friends who had been visiting the village that day. As Ron sniffed, Harry looked up and they made eye contact.

"She's gone," Ron whispered brokenly. "I can't believe she's gone. She never even got to take the N.E.W.T's. You just know that she would be pissed off about that."

Harry managed a small smile. "Yeah, she would be.... I can't help but think--"

"Don't you dare start in with, 'It's all my fault.' Because it's not, Harry," Ron said fervently, sniffing more fiercely and sounding like he had inhaled something unpleasant down his throat.

"Well, the thought had crossed my mind, but I thought that I wouldn't bother saying it since I knew your reaction..." Harry felt his lip tremble and his voice began to shake. "I just can't help but think that we should take over S.P.E.W for her. I mean--"

"If you even think that one more time, Harry, I promise I will go throw _myself_ in that fire again."

Harry and Ron whipped their head around and stared toward the Fat Lady's portrait. Hermione had her hands on her hips and was looking just as well as she always did, though she had soot on her face and her hair was a bit singed. She smiled slightly at their awestruck faces. "I'm a little offended that my two friends didn't try to find me to see if I was all right."

Harry was the first to gain his wits. "Hermione!" he cried out joyously and ran to her recklessly, crashing into furniture and just about knocking over the petite girl when he threw his arms around her. "We thought you were dead! How did you... what in the..." Ron then came barrelling at them and then Hermione was encased between both boys. Harry laughed giddily and kissed her forehead, then continued kissing her forehead and cheek. Ron followed his lead and began kissing the other side of Hermione's face. She laughed and tried to bat them away.

"You two are slobbering all over me. Stop it!" she cried out, laughing.

The boys obeyed her and they pulled back, staring with shining eyes. "You were thrown into a fire, Hermione," Ron whispered, stroking a piece of singed hair behind her ear. "How are you alive?"

"Honestly... are you two wizards or not? How do you think I'm alive?"

"Erm - don't know," Harry said, pulling away and scratching his head. "But I'm bloody happy that you are."

"So am I, but I want to know what you did."

"Well, it's not that hard to figure out, Ron. When I was separated from Harry and Draco because of the fire, I saw that Death Eater coming for me, and I just knew what he was going to do, so I cast a flame-freezing charm on myself. It's quite amateur really, the charm; but as Muggles say, it worked like a charm." She smiled brightly and walked to the couch and sat down with a small sigh. "I can see why Wendelin the Weird liked being burnt so much now though. It is quite pleasant, but it's not as if I'm going to do it all the time. Besides, she could have gone about it in a much simpler way instead of revealing herself to Muggles."

Ron rolled his eyes. "Oh yeah... she could have just had a bonfire in her back yard, invited some family and friends and they could watch while she burned herself. That'd be good fun."

"Well, it _is_ easier. I'm not condoning it, because something could have gone wrong, but I was just making a point." Hermione shook her head. "Anyway, where is Draco?"

Harry felt himself visibly pale as fear and grief returned to him. Hermione put her hand over her mouth. "Oh, Harry... he's not--"

"He's not dead, as far as we know," Harry answered hurriedly. "Lucius Malfoy took him. He was the one that threw you into the fire."

Hermione's face hardened. "Draco will be fine," she declared firmly. "He's strong and a Slytherin to the core. He'll find a way back."

The next couple of days were spent in a stupor. Harry only vaguely noticed that the students who had been injured in the attack were slowly returning to school life... all except for Draco. There had been no casualties within the student body, with Draco being the only one taken. Harry was glad that nobody had died, but it did not lessen his pain over his fiancé. The Gryffindor could only imagine the kind of tortures that the blond was enduring, and he honestly could say he did not want to imagine them. The things that he could possibly be going through were just too horrible, and Harry did not want to think that Draco could be experiencing them all over again.

Dumbledore and select members of the Order of the Phoenix had assured Harry that they would get Draco back for him, but the job they were doing was not quick enough for him. The Gryffindor was standing at the edge of patience and he could feel that only one thing would snap it. In the deep recesses of his mind, the part that he allowed no person a glimpse of, Harry hoped for something to happen so that he could move into action.

The only occurrences worth mentioning that did happen in the coming three weeks of May, was a truce of sorts with Aunt Petunia and a conversation with Remus Lupin. Aunt Petunia had come to him a few days after Draco's kidnapping and demanded to speak with him once more. Being too tired to resist, Harry complied and was led to a cushy room he had never been in before. Once they were both seated, she gave offerings of condolences over Draco, which Harry could tell were forced since she obviously did not approve of homosexual relationships, She then said that they were under no circumstances to continue this feud. She claimed that the truce was for her late Duddy-kins, and that since it would make him happy, it would make her happy.

The most Harry could offer her at the time was to be civil and to say hello whenever they crossed paths, and maybe the occasional cup of tea if the mood struck.

A few days after the truce with his aunt, Remus Lupin cornered Harry on his way out of Sirius' class and dragged him to the latter's office. Harry shifted uncomfortably in a chair while Remus sat behind the desk and poured them each a cup of tea.

"I asked Sirius permission to use his office right now and I asked for privacy, so he won't be bothering us, if that's what you're worried about," Remus said lightly, handing Harry a cup.

Harry added his usual sugar and took a small drink. "Have anything stronger?" he asked dully, setting down the cup.

Remus raised an eyebrow and set his down as well. "No, I don't. Even if I did, it would be highly inappropriate to serve you anything more than tea, while you're at school anyhow."

Harry shrugged. "It was worth a shot."

Remus offered the boy a small smile. "Yes, I suppose it would have been worth it." As quickly as the smile came, it went, and the older man's face hardened slightly. "What did you say to Sirius, Harry?"

Harry raised wide eyes to the man before him, but quickly averted them. Remus' eyes were not accusing, but understanding, and Harry did not know which one he preferred to see. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, what did you say to him to make him completely cut ties with you? He may not be speaking about it with me, but I can see that you two aren't speaking. Sirius has been pacing about the chambers in a nervous fit, babbling on about if you have been sleeping and eating well enough and whether or not he should check up on you. To be frank, it's driving me insane."

Harry looked back up at Remus, his eyes wide and hopeful. "He has?"

"Non-stop," Remus confirmed with a nod of his head. "I think for about two months now. It's getting to the point that I'm expecting to see it whenever he's there.... What did you say to him?"

"Something stupid, Remus," Harry confessed, hanging his head. "I had just had a fight with Draco, and I was already so stressed with everything.... When Sirius started in about Aunt Petunia, I just couldn't take it. I snapped... and basically said that he was doing a terrible job at being my godfather, and I asked him why he even bothered."

Remus closed his eyes and sighed, but Harry rushed on. "I never meant it! I couldn't ask for a better godfather and I am terribly sorry that I ever said it. He should be the one telling me that I'm a terrible godson. I don't know why he keeps worrying about me. He should just forget about me. It would do him a lot of good."

"Harry," Remus sighed, "that would not do him any good. In fact, I think it's safe to say he'd be worse off if he did do just that."

Harry hung his head. "I just want things back to normal. I want Draco back and I don't want Sirius to think I hate him... I could never... I love him too much to hate him, or to think that he's a bad godfather. What other man would give me the sex talk, or an entirely inappropriate book on gay sex?" Harry chuckled at the thought of the book.

Remus spluttered. "He gave you a book on gay sex?"

"Yes. To be quite honest, I was mortified that he had given it to me, at first, but it came in handy. I never would have known what to do with " Harry trailed off as he realised what he was saying and flushed crimson.

Remus did not seem to notice because he looked rather dazed. "I wonder if Sirius read that book as well. He does always seem to know what he's doing for a man who had always claimed he was straight when we were at Hogwarts... and after we graduated, come to think of it."

Harry flushed even more. "Remus!" he exclaimed, clearly scandalised. Remus seemed to come to himself and flushed pink when he realised what he had said. They sat in awkward silence for a few moments until the door behind Harry opened.

"Wow... if you two blush even more, this place might start to overheat," Sirius said, fidgeting slightly at the sight of Harry.

Remus cleared his throat. "Sirius... is my time up already?"

"Yeah, you overdid it. Sorry if I was interrupting something."

"You were right on time," Harry said quickly, trying desperately not to meet Sirius' eyes, lest his mind create vivid images of Sirius reading the gay sex book and then using that knowledge on Remus. Harry shuddered slightly, an act that both other men saw. Remus sniggered quietly, and Sirius looked on, clearly confused.

Sirius bit his lip, clearly trying to bring up a safe topic. "Erm-- Remus? You weren't giving him a sex talk were you? He only blushes that much when I catch him snogging Draco or when I gave him the sex talk."

"Something like that," Remus said, coughing slightly as he stood up. "I'll leave you two then."

The werewolf quickly left the other two alone. They shifted in awkward silence for a few moments. "So... how are your classes going?" Sirius inquired, shifting slowly toward his seat behind his desk.

"All right. We have had too much homework though, and all I'm doing is that and studying for N.E.W.T's."

"Well, that's good. You want to get good scores on those."

"Yeah, I don't think I'll do that badly... How are your classes going?"

"All right," Sirius responded in kind. "My first year Hufflepuffs are giving me problems with their wand work, but other than that, everything is going fine."

Harry nodded. "How are you doing?"

"I... I've been better," Sirius answered honestly. "How are you?"

"I'm terrible," Harry admitted before he could stop himself. "I'm not eating, I'm not sleeping... my grades have been falling the past couple weeks."

"You're worried about Draco then?"

"That's half of it. But I also just want you to forgive me, Sirius. I can't take it anymore. I never meant those things. I love the job you're doing as godfather. I love everything you've given me. I love the time you've spent and I don't think it's been wasted.... I love you and I can't lose you. Not just because I need you, but because you need me. I know you do and I'm sorry for saying those things to you. They aren't true."

By this time, Sirius was up from his chair and moving toward Harry. The older man stopped in front of Harry and smiled slightly. "I'm happy to hear that. I really am."

"You're not mad then?" Harry asked hopefully.

"Oh, I'm mad, Harry. I would understand if it was because you couldn't get over what happened in your sixth year, but the fact that you said it just to let steam off..." Sirius shook his head. "I'm not looking forward to the day when I really make you angry over something. Who knows what might come out of your mouth."

Harry hung his head. "I'm sorry," he whispered earnestly. "I never meant any of it and I don't know why I said it. I was just--"

"Harry," Sirius interrupted, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I know. You don't have to explain again. Just... next time your temper gets out of control, don't speak. I kind of like having you around, so don't let your mouth run off with you."

Harry smiled. "I kind of like having you around too, Sirius."

Sirius smiled slightly. "Now, what is this I hear about not eating or sleeping? We can take care of the food in a minute because I told Dobby to bring food to my office and he always brings enough for four people. But I'll have to nip down to Snape's office for a sleeping draught afterwards so that you can sleep tonight." Sirius sat Harry down and continued fussing over him, straightening robes, tidying hair, cleaning glasses and even making sure that his shoes were tied. When Sirius went for Harry's tie, Harry grabbed his wrists and smiled kindly at his godfather.

"Sirius... I'm fine, really. Now, quick acting like a mother hen."

Sirius offered a cheeky grin. "Was I that obvious?" he winked. His smile quickly faded and he looked concerned again. "No, but really, is there anything you need right now?"

"Well, I could use some food, and just my luck! Dobby's here!"

The house elf had popped in while Sirius was cleaning Harry's glasses. Dobby had waved at Harry enthusiastically but went about his business quietly. Sirius looked back and gave a small start. "So he is!" Sirius threw up his arms. "Well... let's eat!"

After his reconciliation with Sirius, Harry began to eat a lot more, though his sleep did not change in the slightest. Snape had given him a sleeping draught as Sirius had promised, but after that night, Harry claimed that he was sleeping much better and did not ask for them again. If Harry slept, he felt like he would miss something, and that he was being lazy while Draco suffered whatever it was that he was suffering. If Harry was worrying right when Draco had been taken, it was nothing to how he was worrying now. Dumbledore had said that he would inform Harry if the Order heard or found out anything on Draco's whereabouts. But it was now heading on three weeks since the Hogsmeade incident and there was not one word on him.

The Gryffindor became testier to everybody that was around him, but true to Sirius' request, did not speak much when his temper was tried. He did not want to end up in a fight like he did with Sirius. Ron had tried to cheer him up by planning out a bachelor party, but thinking of the wedding, made Harry think of Draco, which did not make him happy. As a result, Harry bit through his lip, attempting not to say anything. Hermione had rushed him to the hospital wing while Ginny scolded Ron for being so insensitive. Harry knew that Ron was only trying to help, but he also knew that Ron could have been a bit more tactful than that.

This was why Ron and Hermione watched Harry anxiously as he brought a fork full of chicken and ham pie to his mouth at dinner, one week since he had made up with Sirius. They were worried that he would explode from the pent up anger and fear at any time. Plus, Harry had just heard a Ravenclaw say that they were better off without Draco Malfoy. Just as he was about to take a bite, an owl swooped into the Great Hall, screeching loudly. All faces turned upward to look at it in confusion as it circled the Gryffindor table. Harry's food was forgotten as he looked hopefully at the letter clutched in the owl's talons.

When the letter was dropped in front of him, Harry dropped his fork onto his plate and tore the letter open. It was a small, hastily written note, but Harry knew who it was from without looking at the signature at the bottom.

_H,_

I've seen my mother. She sends regards to Dobby from the dungeons.

Love you,

D

Harry stared; perplexed at the letter as Hermione read it over his shoulder. "What does this mean?" he muttered under his breath.

"It's code," Hermione whispered breathlessly. "He says he's seen his mother, so that must mean he's at Malfoy Manor... Which of course he would be... I doubt Mrs. Malfoy would send regards to a house elf and considering she probably doesn't live in the dungeons... He's saying to speak to Dobby about something in the dungeons?"

Harry made eye contact with her, and he knew that she was deliberately lying so that he would not do what Draco was asking him to do. "No, he's in the dungeons at Malfoy Manor and is saying that Dobby can help me."

"Harry!" Hermione cried as he stood up.

Before anybody could stop him, Harry ran from the Great Hall, note clutched tightly in his hand. The kitchens had never seemed further away as they did at the moment. The dark-haired boy ran as fast as he could into the depths of the castle and to the picture of the fruit. He tore into the kitchen.

"Dobby! Dobby! I need your help!"

The little house elf instantly popped right beside him looking eager to do whatever he could to help Harry. "Oh, Harry Potter, sir has come for Dobby's help! Dobby will do anything to help him, sir. What can Dobby do, sir?"

Harry lowered himself to Dobby's level and gently took hold of his shoulders. "Do you know that Draco Malfoy is my fiancé?"

"Oh, yes, sir!" Dobby nodded his head vigorously. "Dobby is always knowing that Master Draco is good. Harry Potter can help him. Harry Potter is most good for Master Draco."

"Okay, then you must know that Draco has been kidnapped by his father, right?"

"Oh, Master Malfoy is a terrible wizard, Harry Potter, sir. Master Draco is in very grave danger."

"I know and that's why I need your help, Dobby. I know this is a lot to ask, but you are the only one I know who knows Malfoy Manor. Draco is being kept there. See?" Harry held out the note. "Draco even wrote me a note just now to get you to help me. Draco trusts you to help me. You must have been really good to him if he is showing this kind of respect towards you."

Dobby, who had faltered at the mention of going back to Malfoy Manor, puffed up proudly. "Dobby always did his best, sir."

"I know you did... even now you do a great job. Could you please help me out, Dobby? I need him back with me. Please."

Again, the little elf faltered and his big eyes grew smaller with worry. "I'll keep you safe, Dobby. Once you get me inside the Manor, you tell me how to get out, in case Draco isn't able to leave immediately, and then you can leave for Hogwarts again without me. Okay? And if I'm not back within two hours, tell Dumbledore what I've done, okay? Remember that the Malfoys aren't your masters anymore. Dumbledore is now your boss and he is a good wizard. He will understand what you're doing."

"Okay. Dobby will take Harry Potter to the Manor for him."

"Thank you. Now, do you think you could quickly go up to my trunk? Inside there is a silvery piece of fabric. I need you to get it for me. I'll run up to the entrance hall and meet you there, okay?"

Dobby nodded his head, making his large ears flap and then disappeared with a loud crack.

Harry immediately ran out of the kitchens and into the entrance hall. As soon as he skidded to a stop in front of the doors, three voices called his name.

"Harry Potter, sir! I have it!"

"Harry!"

"Harry! What are you doing?"

The Gryffindor spun around and saw Ron and Hermione coming from the emptying Great Hall. "I'm sorry. I need to do this. If I don't, I'll regret it." He walked quickly towards them as he realised that he might not make it out of Draco's childhood home. When he was standing directly in front of them, he looked earnestly into their faces. "I'm doing it because I can't imagine living without him and I know where he is now. I have to do this, okay?"

"Harry..." Hermione choked out. "Get Dumbledore and he'll take care of it."

"No. I've already wasted too much time here.... If I..." Harry stopped to collect himself. "If I you know.... don't make it back--"

"Stop being so melodramatic, Harry!" Ron exclaimed desperately.

"I'm not being melodramatic, Ron. There is a good chance I won't come back. Who knows what or who is there with him. Anyway, if I don't come back... please tell Sirius that I'm sorry for going... but I have to do this." He then gave them both a quick hug and began to walk away.

As soon as they got to the door, Harry turned around, smiled, and gave them a mock salute and then disappeared out the front door with Dobby on his heels.

"Bloody sodding hero complex, he has," Harry heard Ron mutter in a fear-filled voice as he walked out.

Harry only chuckled softly as he ran to the outer limits of the Apparation barrier surrounding Hogwarts. "Ready Dobby?" he asked the elf as he came to a stop. Dobby nodded his head bravely, took hold of Harry's hand and transported them to Malfoy Manor.

When they reappeared with a loud pop, Dobby looked around wildly. They were surrounded by trees and they could just see the intimidating structure of a castle in front of them.

"Dobby is not knowing what happened, sir! He is always able to get inside of places, no matter what charms is on them!"

"Don't worry, Dobby," Harry assured. "It's probably just because I'm with you. Let's just hope we didn't set off any alarms. Do you know the grounds as well as the house?"

"Dobby is knowing it, Sir, but not as good."

"Okay, then we'll do the best we can. Here, get under this cloak with me, it'll hide us."

"Oh, Dobby knows what it does, Sir," Dobby whispered breathlessly as Harry wrapped it around them. "Dobby has never had the chance to use one before, though. What a great honour to be using one with Harry Potter."

"It's nothing big, Dobby, don't worry about it. You can thank me later." Harry grinned as they moved forward. At first, Harry was surprised with how well Dobby moved without a sound, but then he remembered that house elves were only to be noticed by how well they cleaned or how promptly they prepared and set out meals.

"There is a small hole in the wards that is deliberately put there for house elves and family," Dobby informed him quietly as he stopped. "Nobody can ever find it though because you is having to pull a certain branch on a bush. It is over here somewhere." Dobby reached out of the Invisibility cloak and pulled a branch towards them. It stretched a bit unnaturally before Harry felt magic crackle in the air and Dobby let go of the branch. "This way, Harry Potter, sir." They went single file through the invisible hole. As Harry stepped through, magic crackled in the air again and he knew that it was sealed again. Now that he was on this side of the wards, he could feel the magic pulsing from the grounds and house. It was a wonder that anybody could live here with the amount of magic that seeped from every stone and tree. It swept through Harry's body, making him shiver; he did not know if it was the amount of magic, or the overpowering Dark magic that caused his frisson. Dobby was talking about the ward door that they had just stepped through and only now did Harry notice.

"... elves use that only once in a while when we is having to go out into the woods to collect wild fruits for Master's dinner. We would Apparate, but it zaps our energy going through those wards. Dobby has never gone through anything as powerful."

Voices drifted from around the corner of the Manor as they neared it. Harry laid a hand on the elf's shoulder to stop him.

"Cast the detection spell over toward the gardens. I'll do it in the opposite direction."

Harry bit his lip as he looked around him and mentally cursed. Two guards were just behind them. The guards had come from the left of Harry and Dobby and had just turned to go towards the Manor. Dobby pulled Harry behind a bush and did a spell of his own that Harry did not recognise, as it was house elf magic. When a guard's spell passed over them, the man gave a triumphant yell.

"There is something blocking the spell in those bushes!"

"Would you be quiet!" hissed a man that was all too familiar sounding to Harry. When the men came around, he saw three of them. The first two were Crabbe and Goyle Senior, while the third was Lucius Malfoy. "Cast the spell again."

Goyle was the one who cast the spell and they were obviously pleased with what they found. Lucius was not. "It's a house elf. They always use that blocking charm when I try to find them like this. Come out you piece of vermin!"

Dobby shook beside Harry, and he placed a comforting hand on the elf's bony shoulder. "It's all right, Dobby. He won't get you. You can just tell me now where to go and you can go back to Hogwarts."

Dobby shook his head bravely. "Dobby is helping Harry Potter, sir, inside of the Manor."

"You would have made a great Gryffindor, Dobby."

Dobby beamed.

"I have things to do," Lucius snapped irritably. "Cast more detection spells around the grounds, but I doubt you'll find anything. It was probably just a ruddy house elf."

Dobby and Harry sat quietly as they watched Lucius stalk churlishly back to the manor house. Crabbe and Goyle looked their way one more time then went the other way, casting detecting spells. Harry breathed a quiet sigh of relief and let Dobby lead the way to the house, ducking behind lavishly carved trees and bushes, and even statues.

"This is a servant's door," Dobby whispered as they sidled next to the stone exterior. "Dobby is using this all the time when Dobby worked here. It leads to the kitchen."

"Okay. Dobby, I think it would be best if you were to hide somewhere while I go to find Draco. Do you think you could hide in the kitchen?"

Dobby nodded his head vigorously. "Okay, then tell me the way to the dungeons." The two slipped inside the door and Dobby whispered in his ear.

Minutes later, Harry ran down a corridor in the dungeons, slipping on the damp stone floor. There was water dripping from the ceiling and there was a mouldy scent to the dungeons of Malfoy Manor. It was a little disorienting to be running along a corridor of dungeons that was nothing but jail cells and the occasional closed door that Harry had a sickened feeling were torture chambers, or something equally nauseating. Not for the first time that night, he wondered how Draco could have grown up in a place that like this.

The Gryffindor stopped for a moment when ear piercing screams met his ears, but he ran further when he realised that it was probably Draco. Dobby's directions repeated themselves over in his mind as he ran. Right, left, put your back against the wall and slide past the hole in the floor (It's a hole to hell, they say), right, go through third door on left, and Draco's door would be the second door on the right. Harry was nearly there when he went through the door and took a left. The screams grew louder as he approached and Harry's heart leapt into his throat. When he reached the outside of what was supposed to be Draco's door, Harry threw the cloak back on and stepped inside.

The screams had stopped and the nearly silent room was now filled with ragged panting. There was a naked boy lying on the floor, blood running freely from him. The upper half of the boy's body was covered in shadow. Though Harry could not be sure that it was Draco, he had a nasty feeling that it was. Two other men occupied the room as well, though Harry only recognised Lucius Malfoy. The elder Malfoy was holding the other man bodily against the wall in a very threatening manner. All three occupants looked up when the door opened of its own volition. Lucius shut it with his wand and sent a curse in the direction of the door, missing Harry by a couple feet.

"Who is here?" he commanded.

Harry pressed his back against the wall and held his breath. Lucius and the other Death Eater waited in silence for a few moments before Lucius grew tired and slammed the man into the wall. "What do you think you were doing?" Lucius hissed venomously. "You know perfectly well that Draco's body is for the Dark Lord only. Now I shall have to spend extra time tending to the damned boy for your actions. The Dark Lord _will notice_ that Draco has been tampered, you utter fool. If he does after I am done cleaning him up, I will not hide your secret. How many times have you been down here, Nott?"

"I… I… Lucius, be reasonable. This is hardly the first time since the boy was brought here and the Dark Lord has never noticed. I've cleaned up every time. He doesn't suspect."

Harry felt his jaw clenching and unclenching, and he quickly but silently moved to Draco's side. Draco had since curled into a small ball, shaking uncontrollably. Harry knelt by his side. "Don't move," he whispered into Draco's ear, who jumped despite the warning. Harry carefully laced his fingers through Draco's, feeling the boy tense at the contact.

"It's me... Harry."

"Harry?" he asked, his voice croaking. It echoed around the nearly empty room.

Lucius spun around at the sound of his son's voice and glared. "I would have thought that my lesson had gotten through to you." Without turning around, Lucius ordered Nott from the room. Lucius waited until the door had closed once more before he spoke again. "You are not to speak of him ever again. Harry Potter does not love you, and he never has."

The anger that statement instilled in Harry was palpable. Before he could think rationally, Harry jumped up and slammed Lucius against the stone wall, knocking away all his air. Lucius looked through Harry as he gasped, completely bewildered. "Who's there?"

"Take it back!" Harry shouted.

"Take what back?"

"You know that I love Draco, you bastard!"

"Potter," Lucius hissed out.

"Good job," Harry sneered, letting the cloak fall from his body. "Now I ask you nicely... let Draco go."

Lucius laughed almost jovially. "You are not in a position to negotiate with me. You are trespassing on my property looking for something that does not belong to you."

"Draco doesn't belong to anybody and certainly not to either of us. But I can tell you with absolute certainty that he _would_ rather be with me at Hogwarts, then here with you." Harry laughed without humour. "What, is it part of some unwritten Malfoy code of honour – do not treat son fairly, so that he has to live a miserable life? I could name a lot more that Malfoys supposedly don't do, but yet, they've all been broken, haven't they?"

"Yes, by that rotten piece of flesh over there. I used to be proud to call him my son."

"He used to be proud to call you his father. It was just good luck that he realised what you were before it was too late."

Lucius sneered, and before Harry could realise what was happening, Lucius twisted his wand around and using it, threw Harry against the opposite wall. The Gryffindor hit with a sickening sound, though he had managed to put his hand behind his head. He fell to the floor beside Draco, onto the hand that had stopped his head from hitting the wall and realised that several bones had been broken. Harry bit his lip to keep from crying out, and then glared menacingly at Lucius, who smirked triumphantly.

"While having you here is a nuisance, Potter, I have to say I don't mind terribly. This way, I get to show my darling son what will happen when I bring you to the Dark Lord." The older man then sent a curse at Harry, which he dodged easily by rolling over, but Harry's new position on the floor made it harder to dodge the next curse. Lucius had disarmed him with Expelliarmus and he was now defenceless against any magic. He then magically bound Harry with rope.

"It appears that I have a gift to present my master. I think he will be most pleased. You can stay here like a good boy for a few minutes while I go call on him."

Lucius pocketed Harry's wand and left the dungeon, shutting and locking the door behind him. Draco, though he was in pain, and Harry could only guess what other injuries he had sustained besides the obvious, got onto his hands and knees to crawl to Harry. With shaking, pale hands, Draco made slow work on the bindings of Harry's upper body. When his torso and arms were free, Harry stilled his fiancé's trembling hands with his unbroken hand.

"It's all right; you can leave those, Draco. He'll be back to tie me up again anyhow." Draco looked at him with wide eyes and Harry managed a small smile. "I've been so worried about you, Draco," he whispered, brushing his hand down the side of the Slytherin's face. "I haven't been able to do anything these past couple weeks but worry."

"I'm doing all right," Draco assured, smiling without conviction.

"I'll believe it when I see it." Harry gently stroked Draco's face and cupped his chin. "I swear I'll kill them…"

"Harry, there isn't anything you can do right now. Getting angry won't help us get out of here."

"I'm sorry," Harry whispered. "I screwed up again. I shouldn't have let my anger come out. If I hadn't, we could probably be out of here by now."

"Harry, stop," Draco said firmly. "Nobody is to take blame for anything that has transpired already. We still have an opportunity to do something. Lucius will probably come back alone. If he does, we'll fight. In fact...." Draco stood painfully from the stone floor and guided Harry up as well. "We should get ready. Let's stand on either side of the door."

"What do we do when he comes in?"

"Jump on him."

Harry stared incredulously. "He's an armed man, but yet, you want us to jump on him?"

"It's the element of surprise. When two boys jump on him seemingly out of nowhere, he won't know what hit him for a few seconds. I know that he has another weapon on him, other than just his wand, so I'll grab it."

"What is it, precisely?" Harry asked curiously.

"It's a dagger." Draco's eyes glazed over. "I've always wanted it, but he has never even let me touch it. It's a family heirloom. It's designed like two snakes intertwining, and there's six spikes sticking into the hilt to represent the oldest and most powerful Malfoy fathers. It's so..." Draco sighed reverently. "I've never wanted anything so badly in my entire life. Anyway, he keeps it on his belt, in a special carrier. It shouldn't be too hard to grab."

"Keeping it on his belt... isn't that a bit... I don't know... Muggle?"

"No. Muggles keep daggers like these in a display case or something of the sort. They don't actually use them, but my father has. Plus, it has ancient spells on it that not even my father has been able to figure out. Personally, I just think he hasn't put the right amount of effort into researching."

Harry nodded, and let his eyes wander down Draco's body. He bit his lip and swallowed, turning away quickly. It pained Harry immensely to see the fresh bruises, cuts, and blood staining the pale skin. There was blood running down the inside of his thighs. "I think you should dress, Draco."

Out of the corner of his eye, Harry saw Draco look down and cover himself with his hands. "I don't know what Nott did with my clothes," he confessed, cheeks turning pink. "He took them off with some spell and they disappeared."

Harry sighed shakily, closing his eyes. He swiftly took off his Gryffindor cloak and gently fastened it around Draco's shoulders. Being careful not to touch Draco's flesh, Harry pulled it loosely around the Slytherin, covering everything. Draco let out a small sigh and moved closer to Harry. "I don't mind if you touch me, Harry," he whispered. "I love you… you should know that."

"I do know that," Harry replied, gingerly moving his broken hand around Draco's neck so that he would not have to do anything with it, and keeping the other hand clenched tightly around the cloak, keeping it closed at Draco's belly button. The darker boy dropped his head, letting out a large puff of air. "I'm _so_ sorry, Draco. I should have known where you were. I should have come weeks ago. How did you even get to send a letter to me?"

"That wasn't me," Draco said, a small smile lacing his voice. "My mother came to visit me and whispered to me that she copied my handwriting and sent you a letter, giving you just enough information to find me. I assume Dobby is here?"

Harry nodded. "He's in the kitchens."

"I always liked him," Draco admitted. "But you had to go and free him, you sod."

Harry smiled weakly. "Sorry, but he was truly miserable here."

"I know." Draco smiled sadly, moving forward and dropping his head on Harry's shoulder. "I used to be happy here. I don't know when it all changed." "When they locked you in these dungeons?"

"Yes, and if I recall, Father never did that until after fourth year when Voldemort returned. It all started with that bastard."

Harry suddenly let out a dry sob. "I'm sorry. You shouldn't have had to go through this." Harry touched the small of the Slytherin's back to show what he meant. Draco tensed at first but relaxed when Harry rubbed small circles. "I should have been able to do something more."

Draco lifted his head and touched Harry's cheek. "At the risk of sounding cheesy, there isn't anything more you could have done, and there's nothing more that I want right now. Well… a kiss wouldn't be all that bad. I've missed you terribly."

Harry smiled shakily, leaning down to kiss the shorter boy. Draco thread his fingers through Harry's unruly mess of hair, and gently prodded his tongue into Harry's mouth. When they pulled away, it was not for air, or that their need for each other was satiated, it was because they heard echoing footsteps coming down the corridor outside.

Draco carefully stepped away from his boyfriend with a small wince, giving a small nod at the same time. "Jump on him, okay?"

"Are you sure you're up to it?" Harry whispered.

"Of course, I am. What's a little pain anyway?" They did not have further time to argue, so they stationed themselves on either side of the door. Harry was having a particularly hard time of it, due to his injured hand, and that his lower limbs were still bound together. He bunny-hopped to his position, knowing all the while that Draco was smirking at him. The darker boy looked around at their surroundings as they waited for their prey.

There was one small bed in the far corner behind Harry, and a nearly empty glass of water was sat on the floor beside it. Looking at it, Harry realised that he was quite thirsty, but knew that it would not be worth the risk of hopping over there as the small amount of liquid in it would not quench his thirst. Draco coughed to grab his attention.

"We'll be out of here in no time."

Harry raised an eyebrow and was about to ask a question, but was interrupted when the door opened. It opened up in Harry's face, so he could not see, but he heard Draco jump on his father. Lucius gave a small cry of surprise as Harry slammed the door shut and jumped onto the man as well. Lucius fell to the ground from their combined weight. It was a mass tangle of limbs and confusion as Draco straddled Lucius' thighs and was seemingly trying to distract his father while he tried to steal the dagger. Harry had landed on Lucius' chest, and was now using his position to hold his arms to the floor. Harry saw Draco slip the dagger from Lucius' belt.

Harry grinned at their advantage, but Lucius threw Harry off when he was least expecting it and reached for his wand, which had rolled out of his pocket onto the floor. Harry scrambled back on his knees and one good hand, and poked Lucius brutally in the eyes and punched him in the gut. The older man gave a small grunt of pain and surprise, giving Harry ample time to fetch Lucius' wand, and his own wand from Lucius' pocket.

However, Harry's rough treatment did not put the Death Eater out of commission for long. He came to quickly and punched Harry in the nose. Harry was taken by surprise, dropping the wands, which clattered and rolled out of his reach. Lucius was quick to throw off Draco and scramble to reclaim his wand and bound Draco magically to the floor before pointing his wand at Harry. He stood with a flourish, throwing his hair behind his shoulders, keeping his wand pointed.

"This was very foolish, son. Very foolish. The Dark Lord will be here shortly for you, Potter.... Until then, I don't think anybody would mind if I had a little fun."

Lucius sent the Cruciatus curse at Harry, whom rolled out of the way and jumped to his feet, just in time. Before he could think rationally, Harry charged at the older man once again and rammed him into the wall. "I don't know what makes you think you'll come out on top here. I'll have Draco safe and back at Hogwarts before long. You're just a small detour," Harry panted out. The comment seemed to get Lucius riled up and he tried to push Harry off him so that he could get use of his wand, but Harry clung on and they ended up stumbling from the wall together. Harry pulled back a fist and slammed it into Lucius's face, which the dark haired boy recalled too late was his broken hand as he cried out in pain.

Lucius shook off the punch and tried to throw Harry to the ground, but he wrapped his good arm around the man's neck and held on. They tumbled to the ground, and Harry, despite his pain, wrestled, punched and even managed to kick Lucius' wand from his hand. It rolled only a foot away, and Lucius used his now free hand to his advantage and rolled over so that he was on top. Harry, his anger rising, lifted his good fist and slammed it into the other side of the Death Eater's face. Lucius rolled off Harry with a small groan. Draco called quietly to Harry.

"The dagger," he whispered urgently as Lucius scurried to get his wand. "I put it in my right pocket."

"But I..." Harry protested, not wanting to actually hurt anybody, no matter how much he knew Lucius deserved it.

"Don't use it, for Merlin's sake! Just threaten him a little with it!"

With slight hesitation, Harry rolled onto his left side beside Draco and rummaged through the Gryffindor cloak to retrieve the weapon. The wavy blade was inside a leather sheath and Harry drew out the blade. He could hear Lucius nearing him once more and quickly turned over, blade point in the air defensively.

When Harry turned over however, he found that Lucius was much closer than he had anticipated, and the blade was not slicing through the air anymore, but Lucius's stomach. Lucius had been approaching Harry on his knees after he had shaken himself of the last punch Harry had dealt. The Gryffindor swallowed as he felt warm liquid seeping onto his hand and he looked down to confirm to himself that he had indeed sunk the knife into another person's flesh. Harry had hit on the older man's left side, right below his last rib, and the blade was already halfway inside. Harry retracted the blade on horrified instinct. Lucius made not one sound during the entire process and glared murderously at Harry.

"Oh my... I… sorry." Harry winced, and Lucius sneered.

"You're sorry for stabbing me? That's something I never imagined hearing." He then covered the wound with his left hand and pointed his wand at Harry's forehead. He was gasping for breath. "Well, I'm not going to be sorry for doing this--"

Harry panicked as he saw Lucius' lips form the words of a curse, though he did not know which one. The Gryffindor reached up and pushed the man's fingers into his own wound painfully. Lucius hissed out in excruciating pain and blood began to seep from his mouth. The blond tore his fingers away from the wound and raised his hand to smack Harry across the face, but Harry was running on instinct now. Harry brought the dagger up through the bottom of the Death Eater's upper arm and the blade reappeared through the top. As the point emerged, blood spurted like a fountain along with it.

Lucius' breaths were now coming in ragged pants, but he still held murder in his eyes. Harry chanced a glance at Draco and saw him encouraging him with his eyes, though they looked almost regretful, though Harry could only guess whether the regret was the fact that Harry had to commit murder, or that his father was being murdered.

"Enough!" Lucius wheezed out, making an attempt to remove the knife, but Harry pulled it out before Lucius could touch it. Fuelled by adrenaline by at this point, Harry rolled away from Lucius and got up on his knees as well. Lucius gave up on getting the knife manually and pointed his wand at it. Harry - who was now in better condition than Lucius - reached out and knocked Lucius' wand away. It rolled across the floor, out of reach.

By now, Lucius had had enough and reached for Harry's throat. He began strangling the Gryffindor, and Harry was strongly reminded of the time that Draco had done the same to him.

"Harry!" Draco cried out. "Fight back!"

Draco's voice brought him back to reality and the truth of the situation. He would die if he did not do something about Lucius right now. Without a moment's thought or hesitation, Harry brought the dagger up and drove it into the man's neck. Lucius choked and his grip slackened on Harry's neck. Harry drew a deep breath of air as Lucius tried to do the same. As Lucius exhaled, blood poured out of his mouth and onto Harry's neck and chin. His grey eyes rolled down to look at Harry and he tried to say something, but was unable to speak. A few moments later, Lucius' eyes rolled back into his head, he took his last breath as he collapsed, knocking Harry onto the floor.

Harry lay in shocked silence for a few moments before pulling the dagger from Lucius's neck and roughly rolling the heavy man off him, and backing up on his bottom across the floor. He stared, wide-eyed at Lucius Malfoy, who had been alive a few minutes before... but was now dead... And it was all because of Harry.

The Gryffindor breathed erratically as he stared at the bloody mess five feet from him. Harry had killed a man. Harry killed a man. It was slowly sinking in and the more it did, the sicker Harry felt.

Harry gagged. "Oh God.... I.... I killed him." Harry gagged again and turned his back from the sight and retched onto the floor. Even after he had finished emptying the almost nonexistent contents of his stomach, Harry continued dry heaving as the images of him killing a man replayed in his mind. Only when the heaves stopped, did he notice the tears that were silently streaming down his face. He wiped at the sweat and tears that mingled on his face, and refused to look at Draco for a few minutes.

"Harry," Draco finally ventured after a while. "We need to get out of here. Lucius said that Voldemort would be coming soon."

Harry still refused to look at his fiancé as he gingerly stood up to retrieve his wand. He could hear Draco's almost silent sigh of exasperation. "Harry, look at me.... Harry, look at me right now, and remember that I'm still bound to the floor in a very uncomfortable position and would like to be freed now."

"I can't do magic outside of school."

"For Morgaine's.... Don't be daft! You're seventeen and can do magic whenever you like."

Harry glanced back quickly, blushing pink, used his wand to unbind Draco, then picked up his Invisibility Cloak. Draco came up behind him and laid a gentle hand on his shoulder. Harry felt his resolve crack to not say or do anything. "I.... I killed your father, Draco," he whispered brokenly. "I never meant to."

"I know. Can we just…talk about this later? I want to get the hell out of here."

"How can you be –" "Harry, just stop already. You did what you had to do. If you really want to talk about it, we'll talk when we're safe. As you know, we're not safe yet. I think Voldemort is a larger threat than my father was. Come... give me the dagger."

Harry did not realise that he was still holding the weapon tightly in his hand and willingly gave it up. Draco took Lucius' wand and magically cleaned the dagger of blood, stuck it back in the protective case and then attached it to an inside pocket of Harry's cloak.

"You're keeping it?" Harry choked out.

"Of course. I told you that it's a family heirloom. Technically, I'm still the heir, and so have the divine right to keep it."

"I know... but I killed your father with it," Harry whispered.

Draco swallowed and looked down at Lucius with contempt and something else that Harry could not quite decipher in his silver eyes. "It doesn't make me like the dagger any less. Go on..." Draco continued in a tightly controlled voice. "I'll be out in a moment."

Harry slowly turned from his boyfriend and walked to the door. His curiosity got the better of him, so turning, Harry saw that Draco was now kneeling in a puddle of blood beside his father. Draco looked down at the Malfoy dagger and then looked back to his father. Harry looked at the dead man for a moment, but felt nausea threaten again, so looked back to Draco. He wished Draco would close Lucius's eyelids.

"Father," Draco whispered hoarsely. Draco looked down at the dagger again and placed a hand on his father's chest where there was no blood. Harry distinctly heard a shocked exhalation of breath. "No heartbeat," the blond muttered to himself, as if just realising that Lucius was in fact, dead.

Harry felt guilt at its most poignant rip through his chest like the knife he had just used. Tears pricked his eyes and he looked away for just a moment, before curiosity claimed him again. Draco was finally closing Lucius's eyes, and to Harry's surprise, leaned down and kissed the man's rapidly cooling forehead. Draco then placed his own forehead where he had placed a kiss, and let out a shuddering breath.

"Thank you, father. I'll never forget what you told me." Draco took a deep breath, lifted his head, and Harry saw his face harden. "As much as I'll miss you, I hope you rot in hell."

As Draco rose, Harry quickly turned and stepped out in the hallway, looking the other way, as if he had not been listening. Harry was confused. He did not understand the relationship between Draco and his father at all. Since becoming friends with Draco, Harry had always assumed that Draco hated his father. But now, it was uncertain with Draco's blatant show of affection, followed by one of hate. Curiosity still burned inside of Harry, as he wondered what Lucius had said that his son would remember.

Draco still had not moved as Harry looked back. The blonde's face was wet with tears that he was quickly wiping away. Agony, like none he had ever experienced before, made Harry's eyes well with tears again and one fell down each cheek. The Slytherin looked up and their eyes met. "Draco," Harry whispered hoarsely.

Harry did not know what he planned to say next, but he did not get the chance to anyhow. The clinking of a door opening near them startled both boys. "We need to go," Harry whispered urgently. "Come on."

Draco nodded and stepped forward, but promptly fell back to his knees; the last of his energy had been exhausted jumping on Lucius. He let out a small cry of pain and looked to Harry for support. Harry hurried to him, cast a lightweight charm on him, and swept the injured boy into his arms. Summoning the Invisibility Cloak to him, Harry handed it to Draco, who flung it around them and held it so that Harry could carry Draco, and cast spells if needed. They squeezed out of the room just as Voldemort was sweeping down the dank corridor like a slithery serpent, two servants behind him.

Draco whimpered in Harry's arms at the sight of him. Harry tightened his hold and backed up so that nobody would bump into them. The Gryffindor barely heard the shout of outrage when Voldemort discovered Lucius dead, as he was already running down the hall; the way that he had come.

"He is still around here somewhere!" Voldemort was heard shouting as Harry ascended a staircase. "Get him before he gets away!"

"Harry," Draco whispered fearfully. "Keep running. Don't let him get me again."

"Don't worry, I won't. Where are the kitchens?"

Harry opened the door to the first floor and peered out. It was completely deserted, and he was entirely grateful for it. "Go left," Draco whispered, and Harry obeyed. It was not long before they reached the kitchens. Draco pointed to a door about three feet tall, and just as wide. Harry stopped in front of it, and stared. Draco sighed.

"We're not supposed to go in there. We can, but the kitchens are a place for house-elves, not the people of the house."

Harry sighed. "Ridiculous," he muttered, and knelt with Draco still in his arms, and opened the small door. It opened inwards and Harry moved forward awkwardly and peered in. Two house-elves were looking at the door in fear, and Harry crept in on his knees. The door shut promptly behind them.

"Harry Potter, sir?" Dobby asked from behind them.

"Yeah, it's me, Dobby. Is there anybody in here?"

"Oh, no, sir. The masters never come in here."

"Good. Let the cloak down, Draco."

By that time, a group of no less than ten house elves had surrounded the disembodied voice, staring at the empty space beside Dobby, then to Dobby with their large eyes. Draco let it drop as Harry gingerly set Draco to the floor, so as not to hurt him further. The house elves gasped as they saw Draco in his bloodied and battered state. "Master Draco!" half of them cried out in unison, and then started scurrying around, getting things that would clean and make him better. Draco coughed as one elf sponged at his forehead.

"Master Malfoy is to be informed, Master Draco," one elf cried out fearfully.

"Lucius is dead," Draco said, wiping spittle from his chin. "I'm the Master of this house now, and as such, you will take orders from _me_. Nobody is to be informed of Harry and my visit here today. If Voldemort asks any of you, you are to lie, and say that you never saw us. Got that?"

Ten house elf heads bobbed up and down in unison. "Dobby?" Draco asked a bit more kindly now. "Could you get us to the wards outside?"

Dobby nodded his head, making his ears flap. "Yes, sir."

Another elf, whom announced herself as Mitty, came forward and offered her services so that both Harry and Draco could be transported there at the same time. Draco thanked her kindly, and grabbed her bony hand. Dobby grabbed Harry, who threw the cloak over all of them, though it was a tight fit, and they Disapparated to the wards outside. Death Eaters were prowling the grounds, looking for any sign of Draco. Harry's heart began to beat faster as the group of four slowly walked to where Draco would be able to open the wards. Once open, they walked through, when the house elves insisted upon Apparating the boys back to Hogwarts grounds. Draco gave no sign of protest, and neither did Harry. They were both aching, and very tired. Harry's hand had been numb for quite a while now, and he did not know if that was a good or bad sign.

Moments after walking through the wards of Malfoy Manor, they were directly outside the anti-Apparition barrier to Hogwarts. Harry uncloaked the quartet and breathed the late night air. Mitty bid them farewell and disappeared with a pop.

Draco looked up at the welcoming castle with tired eyes and sighed. "I never thought I'd see this place again."

"O ye of little faith," Harry chided gently, attempting to pick the boy up again, but finding that he was much too tired.

"Bad faith," Draco grunted as Harry accidentally dropped him.

Dobby snapped his fingers from beside them, and both boys were suspended on invisible stretchers. "Master Draco and Harry Potter, sirs, are much too tired to be exerting themselves now."

"Mmm," Draco sighed, closing his eyes. "This is nice," he murmured as Dobby began floating them back to the castle.

"Yes," Harry agreed. "Thank you, Dobby. I'm going to get you a pair of socks for every time you've saved my arse since we've met. That includes the times you nearly got me expelled and or killed."

Draco chuckled lightly. "You two must have an interesting history together."

"Oh, but we do. Dobby and I go way back to second year, when he showed up in my bedroom at 4 Privet Drive."

Dobby turned red, as Draco turned over gently on his invisible stretcher. "Why... you little sneak. How is it that Father never knew you had gone somewhere?" Draco then waved his hand as Dobby opened his mouth speak. "It's no matter, Dobby. I'm glad you helped to save Harry's life. Now... is there a way you can connect our stretchers?"

With a snap of his fingers, Dobby had connected their stretchers and Harry felt himself sinking into the middle as if he were on an air bed that was losing air. It was a bit disconcerting and for a moment, he was sure that they would hit the ground, but then he and Draco collided, chest to chest.

"Mmm... I was hoping that would happen," Draco smiled softly, as he wound his arms around Harry. Harry returned the embrace, and stayed there. They were passing the Quidditch pitch now, and Harry was a thankful for the quiet because he knew it would liven up again once they returned to the school. Sadly, the quiet served well for Harry's thought processes to return to the body they had left on the dungeon floor of Malfoy Manor... The body that Harry had killed. Harry shuddered and pulled away slightly from his boyfriend. Draco opened his eyes, as they had fallen shut upon wrapping himself around the Gryffindor, and questioned Harry with a look.

"Draco," Harry choked out quietly. "Your father... I'm so sorry."

"Harry... I'm so tired. Please don't do this right now, okay?"

"But I--"

"But nothing. I don't want to think, or talk about it, okay?"

Harry reluctantly nodded and allowed Draco to kiss him reassuringly. "Now, if we want to miss the commotion our return causes, I suggest we fall asleep quickly," Draco suggested as he looked up at the nearing castle. "Then we can sleep through Madam Pomfrey and avoid questions until morning. How does that sound?"

"Heavenly."

"My thoughts as well."

Harry leaned forward once more and kissed Draco slowly, teasing at the Slytherin's tongue, before retreating and burying his face in Draco's neck. "You stink, so bad," Harry murmured as he drifted off.

"You smell like roses," Draco said. "Roses that have been dragged through rubbage, buried underneath hippogriff dung for a fortnight, and... drowned in old sweat."

"Mmm hmm... I love you, Draco."

"I love you, too."

Harry fell asleep as Draco buried his nose in his unruly hair, and Draco followed into the land of dreams, just as Dobby floated them up the stairs, into the Entrance Hall.

As it turned out, they need not have worried about the commotion that their return caused. With the help of the Headmaster, and the Deputy Headmistress, Ron and Hermione managed to keep anybody from knowing that Harry had left. They were floated into the hall, handed over to Dumbledore, and were brought quietly to the Infirmary. Any admonitions the Deputy Headmistress may have had, were stopped at the tip of her tongue as she laid eyes on the peacefully sleeping young men.

There was always tomorrow, she thought to herself. 


	16. Time to Get Better

A/N: If you want to know when I update please feel free to join my Yahoo group (link is on my main page here, just click my name).  
Also, I'd like to thank all my great reviewers and my beta PadfootsBitch for being so speedy with the remaining chapters of this fic.

* * *

**Remember You**  
_Chapter Sixteen_

When Harry awoke twelve hours later, the early afternoon sun was shining brightly through the Infirmary windows, birds were singing, and a light snoring was coming from beside his bed. The Gryffindor groped for his glasses on his bedside table, and upon finding them, slid them onto his face.

Sirius was sitting in a spindly, wooden chair beside his bed, chin dangerously close to falling out of his hand as he snored softly. Harry noticed with some surprise that Sirius's hair, which was pulled into a low, messy ponytail, was turning silver. There were only a few strands, but Harry was surprised nonetheless. He had never thought of Sirius as old before, but now his hair was turning grey. However, it only seemed to add to his character.

Harry smiled slightly and twirled some of Sirius's hair around his finger in amusement. Sirius wiggled his nose, and began to stir, so Harry took his hand back. He vaguely noticed that it was healed, but still quite sore.

Sirius woke, rubbed his hand tiredly over his face, making a scratching sound as he ran it over the morning stubble, stretched, yawned, and then finally opened his eyes to look at his godson. "Morning," Harry said, smiling slightly.

"Harry," Sirius breathed out, grabbing Harry's wrist. "Don't ever do that again. You have no idea..."

"I'm fine, Sirius," Harry assured. "Is Draco all right?"

"Yes," Sirius replied distractedly, still looking over Harry, as if making sure he really was as fine as he said he was. "He still hasn't woken up, but Madam Pomfrey says he'll be fine."

Harry sighed in relief and relaxed into his bed. He stared out at the clear blue sky, noticing that ominous clouds were heading towards Hogwarts from over the mountains, but did not really care, so turned back to his godfather. "Your hair is greying... Did you know?"

"Of course I knew..." Sirius sighed and ran a hand through his hair, causing more of it to fall from the ponytail. "Harry... you have no idea how badly you scared me."

"I'm sorry, but I had to go. They would have killed him eventually. I... I couldn't lose him, Sirius. I love him too much."

The older man sighed. "I know you do. You don't have to tell me."

Harry was about to reply, but a small moan of pain interrupted him. Only then did he notice that curtains were surrounding the bed next to his. "Is that Draco? Can you check on him?"

Sirius willingly got up and looked inside, then sat back down. "He's just dreaming... Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Do you know who's been raping him?"

Harry choked on air, and his eyes opened wide. "R... rape?"

"Rape," he repeated. "Harry... this was why he was pushing you away before, isn't it? He was being raped by somebody."

It was not a question and Harry knew it. Everybody now knew about Draco. "Yes," he whispered. "But it's not my place to tell anybody who it was... How did you find out?"

"When Pomfrey was checking him over, she found many bruises all over his body, which looks like fingers and hands, and traces of semen on his back. After she found that, she found it necessary to look further. She found traces of it there as well. There were also definite signs of rough handling during –"

"Don't say it," Harry interrupted hotly. Sirius grew still, his face cautious. Harry let out a shuddered breath and buried his face in his hands. "He was doing so well," he whispered. "Then they have to go and take him again. He'll never be the same."

"You don't know that, Harry. Madam Pomfrey is going to recommend a wonderful therapist at St. Mungo's. It'll be up to Draco to go, but I believe it would help him very much. He has been through a lot of trauma in the past year that will take a while to get over."

"I know," Harry sighed, turning to look sadly out of the window again. He only vaguely noticed when somebody gave a dry, wheezing cough, as his thoughts were centred on Draco, and how he would take to the suggestion of going to the therapist.

"Harry?" called out a wheezing voice.

"Yes?" Harry asked, getting out of bed. Sirius made to protest, but Harry sent him a look, challenging him to stop him, and Sirius relented.

"Where are you?" Draco coughed out.

"I'm coming. Hold on."

Harry opened the curtains surrounding his fiancé's bed and immediately climbed in, not waiting for an invitation. "Feeling better, Draco?"

"Sort of," was the noncommittal response. "I heard Professor Black say Pomfrey was going to recommend me a therapist."

"Yes," Harry said quietly. "Do you think you'll want to go?"

"My first thought was that they'd drag me kicking and screaming. But..." Draco sighed brokenly. "I'm so sick of feeling like nothing will ever be right again. I've always just tried to remind myself that they will be better because I'm going to marry you in a few months, but... it's never enough. I want to be able to love you unconditionally. I know I'm holding back, and it scares me. I don't want to hold back. I want to show you that I trust you... I want you to... I want to feel you," Draco paused, turning a light shade of pink. "... Inside me," he finished in a whisper.

Harry felt his heart jump into his throat and his heartbeat quicken. Draco closed his eyes tightly. "I can't though. It scares me. I need to feel better; I want nothing more than that. Would you mind if I went? If you don't want me to, then..."

"Don't be ridiculous," Harry admonished, brushing a piece of blond hair from Draco's face. "I want you to get better, so that you don't have to think about it all the time. I want to give you what you want."

"Thank you," Draco whispered as he placed a small kiss on Harry's cheek.

The two boys lay in silence for a long while, enjoying the peace that shrouded their small area of the infirmary. But as welcomed silence is wont to do, it ends with a sudden snap of activity. Both boys vaguely noticed the sound of a shutting infirmary door, but chose to ignore it for as long as possible. When the curtains were ripped apart, and the bright sunshine streamed in, they could no longer avoid the inevitable. Professor Dumbledore was standing at the foot of their bed, smiling benignly down at them.

"Good afternoon, boys. I'm glad to see that you are up. I was hoping for a small chat."

"You always do," Draco coughed into Harry's chest.

Dumbledore laughed lightly and pulled a chair next to their bed. "Circumstances warrant it, I am afraid." The Headmaster became grim suddenly. "And most unusual circumstances they are. A commotion was called in to the Minister's office last night, where I happened to be in a meeting with the Minister. As far as I am able to understand, you two had already left Malfoy Manor with Dobby, and were on your way back here when it happened."

"What happened?" Draco asked, lifting his head slightly.

"A large burst of magical power went through your childhood home, Mr. Malfoy, and that is what alerted the Ministry. Aurors and the Magical Law Enforcement were called, and when they arrived, it was to find the Manor in quite a state."

"My mother?" Draco asked frantically.

"Mild burns. She will be released from St. Mungo's this afternoon. I'm afraid that half of the Manor is in ruins, and is quite uninhabitable for the time being."

"Do you know what caused it?"

"Not quite yet. The Ministry is investigating. During their investigation of the dungeons this morning, they found something that was of interest to them."

Harry began trembling in Draco's arms and buried himself further into his embrace. Draco absentmindedly kissed the top of his head and held him nearer. "My father's body," Draco said tonelessly.

"Ah... I thought you might know about it already. Would you like to tell me what happened?"

"Will I go to Azkaban if I did do it?" Draco asked.

Dumbledore raised an eyebrow and glanced at Harry's trembling body. "There may be action taken against you, but the situation may not warrant it. If you tell me what happened, then I may be the judge of it."

Draco then went into the story of what happened in the dungeon after Harry arrived, though it had a few lies tied into it. He made it sound as if it was Harry that had been bound to the floor, and not Draco, and Draco who had thrust the knife into his father's body. For the life of him, Harry could not figure out why Draco was lying for him, but in a way, he was warmed by the gesture. When Draco was about to tell Dumbledore of the third stab wound, Harry pushed away from Draco, sat up and looked at Dumbledore until they made eye contact.

"Draco... thank you, but you can stop now," Harry said, feeling his voice shake slightly.

"Harry... no." Harry looked Draco in the eye.

"It's not a big deal. I'll take any punishment. Professor Dumbledore," he said, looking the Headmaster in the eye again. "Draco didn't kill Lucius..." Harry swallowed. "I did," he whispered.

Dumbledore nodded, leaning back in his chair and twirling the tip of his beard in his fingers. "I thought as much."

"What's going to happen to me?" Harry asked.

"Nothing, of course. It didn't matter which of you did it. It was in self-defence against a known and wanted Death Eater. If anything, you will be receiving a reward from the Ministry for effectively taking care of one of their escapees."

"But I..." Harry spluttered. "I killed a man! Why is that going to be rewarded? I don't want a reward for killing a man!" Harry exclaimed vehemently. "It's sick."

"I did not say that you would be getting an award for it, Harry," Dumbledore chided gently. "I said it was a possibility. Please do not get so worked up over it."

Any other thoughts that may have been on the tip of Harry's tongue were interrupted as the Infirmary door was opened once more to let the Minister of Magic in. Harry heard Draco growl low in his throat beside him. "Did you find out anything, Dumbledore?" Fudge asked pompously.

"Perhaps. What are your plans of action towards the person who killed Lucius?"

Fudge stuck his nose in the air, glancing at the boys on the bed and then back to the Headmaster. "It depends."

"On what, precisely?"

"Who did it."

"Come now, Cornelius. Be reasonable. Why does it matter who killed Lucius Malfoy? You have been looking for the man for quite some time now."

Fudge began to bluster, and his face started to turn lovely shades of red. "If I find out that you are protecting that Potter boy again, I'll"

"You'll what, Cornelius?" Dumbledore's voice held a certain menace to it, and Fudge's anger visibly deflated.

"It does not matter, does it? I should only need to know who did it, and the circumstances. As I see it, it is still murder and the wizard will have action taken against him." Fudge glared beadily at Harry. Harry steadily met his gaze, but when the Minister finally looked away, Harry moved closer to Draco for comfort. Draco obligingly draped an arm casually around the Gryffindor.

"The circumstances were self-defence. As you well know, Draco Malfoy, here, was kidnapped from the most recent Hogsmeade visit."

"Are you implying that Mr. Malfoy killed his own father?" Fudge asked incredulously, glancing at Draco, who glared.

"There was never any love lost between us, Minister," Draco said steadily.

"So you did it!"

Draco opened his mouth to speak, and Harry had a terrible feeling what he was going to say, so he beat Draco to it. "No," Harry said quietly. "I killed him."

Fudge's eyes lit up with glee. "I knew it!" he crowed, and pulled out his wand. He pointed it at Harry, who felt magical binds tie around his body. He fell back onto the bed, and could not move any longer. "I shall be back within a few minutes with an Auror to escort you to a more proper holding room."

Draco painfully stood up as Fudge made to leave, as Dumbledore stood from his chair. Harry opened his mouth to speak, but found that his voice had been taken away. "Did you not listen to Professor Dumbledore?" Draco roared at the Minister's back. "It was self-defence. Lucius would have killed Harry and me if he had not killed Lucius first! Do you ever listen to reason?"

"Draco, that is quite enough," Dumbledore said quietly. "Let me handle it. It is as he said, Cornelius. Harry did it out of self-defence. Surely you can believe that? Lucius was a known Death Eater who would have done anything for his Master."

Fudge began to retaliate, but Dumbledore led him to a far corner of the Infirmary where they held quiet, but furious words. Draco sat back on the bed, and Harry immediately began to talk, though no sound came out. The blond understood immediately and took the jinx off. "Thanks. Draco..."

"You won't have to go anywhere," Draco smiled tightly, knowing exactly what was on Harry's mind. "Dumbledore is taking care of it."

Just then, Fudge blustered back over to them and undid Harry's binding spell. "You are free to go, Mr. Potter," he said furiously. Dumbledore then bid them good day and left the Infirmary. The Minister watched him go with nothing short of contempt and turned back to the boys, who were in the middle of sharing a brief kiss. Fudge sneered.

"You two are getting married this summer, correct?"

They both eyed the older man warily. "Yes," Draco said, gripping Harry's hand.

Fudge moved closer so that his knees were pressing against the bed, and lowered his voice to a menacing hiss. "Dumbledore may be able to help you out of tough situations, Potter, but so help me, I will make sure that nobody will neither marry you, nor let you use their premises." Draco gripped his wand tightly. "What you two are... it's unnatural. Don't expect any favours from the Ministry of Magic. We will not recognise any sort of union between the two of you." He sneered again, and nodded his head. "Good day, gentlemen."

"Bastard," Draco hissed as the Infirmary door closed behind the Minister. "I promise I'm going to help overthrow him when the time is right. We need a new Minister in office."

"What are we going to do, Draco? What if we're not able to get married?"

"Don't worry about it, Harry. I'll find a place if it's the last thing I do. Besides, somebody is bound to help us out." Draco guided Harry down so that they were both lying down again. "You know... we should really start planning the wedding."

"We should have more of a say in what's happening you mean. Hermione and Ginny have compiled a scrapbook of ideas that they came up with themselves and from books in the library. You should see how big it is."

Draco grinned and brushed a lock of Harry's hair from his face. "At least somebody is on top of it... It's nice of them to take so much time on it."

"Yeah," Harry smiled. "I have really great friends."

"Sure... but I'll always like you more."

"Oh," Harry cooed, smoothing his left hand over Draco's side. "You're stealing my place as Resident Sap."

Draco wriggled. "Stop it," he hissed, smiling. "It tickles... and I am not!"

"Stop what?" Harry asked as he moved his fingers on both sides of Draco lightly.

"That!" Draco exclaimed, wriggling, a snort of laughter escaping. The blond clapped his hand over his mouth in dismay, but started to laugh in earnest.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Harry said innocently, tickling ferociously. Draco began to fight back, and they started to wrestle. The sheets tangled about their bodies as they moved and laughed. Harry gained the upper hand, and rolled on top of Draco. Draco let out a pained yell and Harry immediately lifted himself onto his hands, horror stricken. "What did I do?"

"Just kidding!" Draco yelled, and then flipped Harry onto his back, where the blond began to pay the Gryffindor back. Harry laughed, and tried yelling for mercy, but he was laughing too hard. "How does it feel?" Draco asked, grinning. Harry gasped for breath, but could not say anything. As it turned out, he need not have said anything, as Draco suddenly stopped tickling him, and kissed him.

"Mmm..." Harry protested and Draco pulled away. "Need... to... catch breath... please."

"By all means," Draco purred, tracing his top lip seductively with his tongue.

Harry smiled, panting for breath. He licked his lips unconsciously and saw Draco follow the path of his tongue hungrily. "Ready?" he asked.

Harry nodded, and was hardly prepared for Draco to devour him as he did. Draco licked and nibbled at Harry's lips, earning a small moan, before thrusting his tongue inside of Harry's mouth. Draco sucked on Harry's tongue eagerly, as his hands began to roam. The blond manoeuvred his body so that his knees were on either side of Harry's right thigh, while he gently ran his hand down Harry's right side. Harry moaned into Draco's mouth as Draco massaged Harry's butt.

"Oh... Draco," Harry moaned when Draco pulled away from their kiss to nibble on his neck. Draco then ran his hand down to the top of Harry's left thigh. Harry obligingly lifted his leg, keeping his knee bent, so that Draco had to bring his hand around so that he could run his hand up Harry's thigh. Draco made feather light touches to the inside of Harry's leg, making the Gryffindor shudder with pleasure.

"I think I like hospital gowns," Draco murmured against Harry's neck, and then grabbed Harry's erection. Harry groaned and kissed Draco hungrily.

"Boys!" yelled an indignant voice. They both looked up with wide eyes to see Madam Pomfrey standing just outside of her office, hands on hips. "I will not tolerate this sort of behaviour under my watch! I will give you five minutes to straighten yourselves out, and to get into your own beds. Now." The nurse turned on her heel, and slammed her office door behind her. The boys looked at each other with wide eyes.

"That was humiliating," Harry muttered, glancing down to Draco's hand that was hidden underneath his robes. "Would you mind taking your hand off of me? Otherwise, I'll never calm down."

Draco sadly took his hand away and they both sat up, staring at their mutual problem. "I don't want to calm down. I want to finish it off," he pouted.

"Me too, but she'd hear if we tried that within five minutes."

"True. How do we calm down? Just looking at you is making me worse."

"Same here," Harry sighed. He thought for a bit and then brightened. "Have you ever heard of a Speedo?"

"No."

"They make bathing suits. They have one line for men that are absolutely disgusting if you imagine the wrong person in them. They're like briefs, only they cling to you like a second skin."

"Okay... but all I'm getting is you in a Speedo now."

Harry grinned. "Imagine this... Hagrid in a bright pink Speedo."

"Uh, that's disgusting… Er - Professor Dumbledore in a Speedo."

"Ergh..." The boys giggled.

Draco laughed triumphantly. "Professor Black!"

"Eew!" Harry exclaimed. "That's disgusting."

"I don't know," Draco pondered. "He is quite good looking for an older man."

"Draco! I never would have guessed!" Harry's eyes widened. "You're getting off on him!"

"Am not!"

Harry shuddered in revulsion. "Okay, so the image of Sirius lying naked spread eagled on your bed in the Slytherin dormitories doesn't turn you on?"

Draco closed his eyes and shuddered. Harry's mouth opened in surprise. "I don't know how to feel about that."

Draco looked at his lap sadly. "I'm not supposed to be getting hard again, Harry," he pouted.

Harry scratched his head, and then grinned. "Snape in a Speedo."

Draco shivered in revulsion. "Don't speak of my godfather in that way."

"I agree, just as long as you stop thinking dirty thoughts about my godfather."

"Deal."

The boys laughed some more as they shared a few kisses before Harry climbed back into his bed.

Madam Pomfrey entered the Infirmary again and glared. "All set then?" She bustled over, gave them each a potion, and began walking away. Neither knew what she gave them, but felt the effects begin to take over them. They were both falling into a deep sleep. Draco giggled suddenly.

"Madam Pomfrey in a Speedo."

"What about her boobs?" Harry asked, forgetting that they make women bathing suits.

"They hang freely," Draco giggled. "Imagine them... all old and floppy."

"That's gross."

"That's why you picked boys... so that you don't have to deal with anything getting old."

Harry chuckled. "Boys' equipment gets old, you dingbat. Before you know it, you won't be able to get it up anymore."

"I'll find a cure," Draco murmured. "I intend to shag you at least two times a day when we move in together."

Harry smiled as Draco began to snore, and fell into a deep sleep.

The next few days were dark and stormy, making Quidditch practice nearly impossible. But a blissfully sunny, warm day came five days after Harry and Draco's release from the hospital wing. Harry had just eaten breakfast and was lounging in the Common Room, enjoying the Saturday morning with his two best friends. Ron and Hermione were bickering amongst themselves, but Harry did not pay them any mind. Their voices became an almost pleasant backdrop to Harry's contented thoughts. Only when somebody began rapping loudly on the portrait of the Fat Lady, did Harry rouse from his thoughts to watch Ron open it up, scowling darkly. Harry could not see who it was.

"Malfoy," Ron snarled. "I should have known it was you."

"Good to see you as well, Ronald," Draco chirped, climbing through the portrait hole, completely uninvited.

"What do you want?" Ron asked, eyes narrowed.

"I'm here to see Harry, not to snog you, that's for damn sure. Keep your knickers on... sheesh."

Harry smiled and gestured Draco over to him. "Morning," he greeted.

"Morning..." Draco leered over at Ron. "Lover," he purred, still staring at Ron.

Ron curled his lip at Draco but did say anything. "Would you two stop," Harry chided softly, grabbing Draco's hand. "What brings you here, Draco?"

"I wanted to see if you want to go flying. It's so nice outside. Who knows when we'll get another nice day like this?"

"True. I'll go get my broom."

Harry sprinted up to his dorm, grabbed his broom and sprinted back down the steps. Draco and Ron were in the middle of a staring contest, with Hermione rolling her eyes. "Let's go, Draco," Harry said pointedly, and latched onto his arm. The two boys walked out of the Gryffindor Common Room and trekked their way to the front doors of the castle.

"Madam Pomfrey scheduled me an appointment with that therapist in two days."

"That's good. I'm glad you decided to go."

"Yeah," Draco replied. "I was wondering... would you... could you come with me when I go?"

"Of course. Nervous?" "No!" He exclaimed indignantly, but he bit his lip.

Harry searched his face for a few moments and shrugged. "Well, let's just not think of it right now. Flying will take your mind off of things for a while."

So, they walked to the Quidditch pitch in silence, thankful that Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff were not practicing at the moment, and took to the skies. They flew for hours, looping, diving, trying out new tricks together, and doing anything else that seemed dangerous enough to give them that adrenaline rush that they both loved so much while flying. When Harry tired of flying, he landed and sprawled out on the grass, idly watching the spot in the sky that was Draco, flying with abandon. Five minutes after Harry landed, Draco landed beside him and laid down as well.

"That felt so good," Draco sighed as he attempted to catch his breath.

Harry could not have agreed more, but did not say anything. The comfortable silence stretched on for a few moments before Draco broke it.

"So... when we get our own place, do you want it to be in the Muggle or Wizarding world?"

"Doesn't matter, really. Anywhere that we can find a place, I suppose."

"That's good. Severus, Black, and Lupin went out together a while ago, so that we could get a feel for what we're looking for. They said that they found a perfect place for us and put it on hold for us. It's in Muggle London. I believe they said it was in Notting Hill. Severus went back"

"Wait, isn't that dangerous for him to go by himself?"

"He had a disguise," Draco dismissed Harry easily. "Anyway, he went back and took pictures. He has them if you want to come see them later."

"Yeah, that's sounds good. Are you sure you want to live in Muggle London?"

"I suppose it might not be so bad. It'll give me a different perspective anyway. You'll have to give me lessons on Muggle stuff."

Draco said this last part with a strained voice. Harry shook his head. "I think you'd be fascinated with Muggles once you give them a chance."

"Oh, I know they have amazing things. I was studying with Granger about a month ago, and she needed a book with Muggle references in it. I was looking over her shoulder, and started reading about their architecture. It's completely mind boggling..."

Harry raised a brow. "How so?"

"Anything as tall as the buildings in New York City had to have had help by wizards. It's ridiculous, really, how they manage something like that."

Harry felt his mouth quirking up at the corners and tried very hard to keep from laughing, but Draco's look of incredulity was so funny, that he could not help himself, and burst out laughing.

"Stop laughing, Harry. I'm serious. Anything that tall should not be able to stand on its own. I've now made it a point to read up on every large building, national monument there is in the world and it makes absolutely no sense. You know which one really boggles my mind, Harry?"

Harry took a calming breath, trying to regain composure. It was really a wonder to see Draco so utterly confused by something so insignificant. "What's that, Draco?"

"That big arch thing in the States. What is that thing anyway? Wizards had to have a part in that!"

"No, Draco. Muggles built the entire thing."

"What is it for anyway? It's stupid looking... Well, it is pretty magnificent but it's stupid."

Harry shook his head. "I remember learning a little American history in primary school... I think it's the Gateway to the West. It's a symbol to the Americans of how they made all that land theirs, how they migrated to the West. St. Louis, Missouri was... I don't know... the official stop before heading west. Hence the name, Gateway to the West."

Draco stared at Harry with a lost look, when finally he just shook his head. "I don't get it, Harry." The tone of his voice was so confused, so lost that it made Harry smile fondly at the boy.

"You're cute when you're confused."

"Don't make fun," Draco scowled.

"I'm not. You really are."

"Shut up..." Draco seemed to be struggling with a good word to call his boyfriend. "Pretty boy!"

"Pretty boy? I'm hurt. Really, I am," Harry said in mock hurt and indignation. "No, but seriously Draco... someday soon, I'll take you to every building and monument that confuses you and we'll figure it out together. We'll take a year off and travel all around the world together."

"I like that idea," Draco said quietly, his silver eyes gleaming happily.

"Me too."

Draco seemed to contemplate Harry for a moment, biting his lip. "Well, that's the future. Right now, you're looking quite delicious."

Draco set forth, crawling on his hands and knees with a new predatory gleam that Harry had come to know well in the past year and a half that they had been together. "Eew. Draco, I just got done flying. I'm all sweaty and gross still."

"Mmm..."

"You hate it when I'm sweaty," Harry protested, though he could not really think of why. But then he looked around as a bird chirped and remembered that they were sitting in the middle of the Quidditch pitch.

"I don't recall ever saying that. Besides, even if I did find it gross, I'm finding it strangely attractive right now." And Draco pounced on Harry, effectively tackling him the rest of the way to the ground. Any protestations that may have been on the verge of coming out were cut off when Draco's soft, pink lips found his own and ravaged them. Harry tried to protest, but he gave in when Draco licked the roof of his mouth. They laid there for quite some time, and had no intention of getting up until it was absolutely necessary.

Two days later on Monday afternoon, Harry was impatiently waiting for dinner to end. Draco's first appointment was to take place at half past six that evening. Professor Snape had insisted on going, but Dumbledore had been firmly against the idea, and had appointed Remus and Sirius to take the two boys to London.

Harry did not know who was more nervous about the appointment, Draco or himself. Draco had been a bundle of nerves all day, trying to take on the persona of somebody who did not care that they were going to see a therapist that evening. Harry glanced toward Draco, where he was sitting at the Slytherin table, chewing absentmindedly on some chicken. The blond kept taking deep breaths of air, looking up at the High table at Snape, who would nod, then look back at his plate and brood. Harry, himself was not eating much at all, and fidgeting so much that Hermione was beginning to stare worriedly at him. Harry had not told either one of them about what Draco had gone through with Voldemort, and would not tell them.

"Harry?" Hermione finally asked as dessert appeared on the table. "What are you so jumpy for?"

"I'm not jumpy," he defended. "I'm just a little strung up about the exams. They're coming up so quickly."

"Oh, me too," Hermione sympathized. "The N.E.W.T's are even worse than the O.W.L's. I'll be so glad when they're over."

This thankfully started up a conversation with the surrounding seventh years that Harry chose to ignore. Ron served him a piece of pie, but did not eat it. Sirius was headed his way, and Remus was heading towards Draco. Harry swallowed and stood up.

"Ready to go, Harry?" Sirius asked, smiling slightly.

Harry nodded tightly, to which Sirius frowned. "You have nothing to worry about. You're just along for the ride."

"So, you're saying that Draco does have something to worry about?"

"Heavens, no!" Sirius exclaimed. "You two are getting worked up over nothing."

"Where are you going, Harry?" Ron asked.

Harry jumped. "I... er -"

"Nowhere important, Ron," Sirius said dismissively. "We were just going to go search for a home for these two, is all."

Harry glanced at Hermione, who had her brow furrowed, staring at Harry suspiciously. "Yeah... home searching. I'll be back later tonight. Hermione, do you want to show me what you and Ginny have come up with for the wedding?"

"Sure. I'll get it ready for when you get back," she said slowly.

"Thanks. See you later."

Sirius led the Gryffindor away to a chorus of 'see you later, Harry!'

"Anyway, what I was saying before," Sirius continued quietly as they walked to the entrance hall. "It's not as big of a deal as you two have been making it out to be. Draco will have to speak about the things that he doesn't want to speak about, so it will be more of an emotional ordeal for him, but it will help in the long run. I'm glad that he's decided to get help. I'm positive it will help your relationship out hugely."

Harry nodded, but still felt worried about Draco. Remus and Draco were waiting by the doors for the other two and they both smiled as their respective boyfriends emerged from the Great Hall. "Dumbledore had a portkey made for us," Remus informed them, as he held out an empty bag of lemon drops. The four men each grabbed a corner, and Draco grabbed Harry's hand tightly as Remus counted down. "Three... two... one."

Harry felt the unmistakable pull behind his navel as the portkey transported them to the alley near the entrance of St. Mungo's. Remus led the way into the hospital and up to the correct floor. Draco trailed behind them with Harry looking back every once in a while to make sure he was still with them. The blond looked nauseous, his face taking on a green hue.

When they entered the room for therapists, Harry pulled Draco by the hand and sat them both in chairs beside each other. Draco inhaled deeply. "I don't want to go anymore, Harry," he said quietly, looking around the room with wide eyes.

"It's too late now," Harry whispered, stroking the back of Draco's hand with his thumb. "I'm sure you'll be fine."

Draco turned to look at Harry with worried eyes. "I just don't want to tell a complete stranger about my life. I don't want to talk about it. She's going to make me talk about Voldemort and probably you"

Harry smiled slightly. "Have I been so traumatizing?"

"Well, no. I would rather keep thoughts on you to myself. You're mine and that's that."

"Are you afraid that she'll try to take me away from you or something?" Harry asked, furrowing his brow.

"Don't be daft. I'm afraid she'll try to turn me straight." Harry bit his lip trying to keep the corners of his mouth from lifting in a smile. "I doubt it, Draco. That's not in her description."

"Does the healer have a brochure? If she does, I bet it's in the small print! There's always a condition that nobody ever tells you about until you buy the product!" Draco exclaimed wildly. "I can see it now. The big print says, 'Feel better in three weeks guaranteed!' Then if you're even lucky to see the small print, it'll say, 'May take longer if you are gay, as we will need to cure you of that as well.'"

Harry looked desperately to Sirius and Remus who were listening in, small smiles fighting to break across their face. Remus covered his mouth with a fist and cleared his throat. "Draco, you have nothing to worry about," he assured. "Healer Adina is not like that, I assure you."

"How do you know?" Draco asked.

"Well... I went to see her a few years ago, and she was very understanding. I believe she has a sister who is a lesbian, and is very supportive of her."

Draco still looked a bit sceptical, but was also visibly relieved. "Draco Malfoy," called a woman's voice at that moment. Draco tensed and squeezed Harry's hand to an almost unbearable point. Harry looked up to see Healer Adina standing in the doorway to her office, smiling slightly. She was a rather tall woman with brown, curly hair that had streaks of grey in it. It was pulled up into a messy bun, letting tendrils of hair fall into her face. She pushed one patiently from her face and gestured into her office. "Mr. Malfoy, would you like to come into my office?"

"Not really, no. Thanks for the invitation, Healer. I appreciate it. Come on, Harry. Let's go back to Hogwarts."

Draco pulled Harry up to begin walking away, but the darker boy would not walk forward. "Fine, be that way, Harry. I'll go home without you."

Adina smiled sympathetically, and banished her clipboard to her office. "Draco, I understand your reluctance to come in to speak with me, but it would be most beneficial to you, if you did so."

"I don't want to be straight!" Draco said vehemently.

Sirius and Remus snickered behind them. Healer Adina raised her eyebrows. "You don't do you? That's fine with me, Draco. Now, come along."

Draco still held back, so Harry turned him around and took the blonde's hands in his. "Draco," he said quietly, "please give the healer more credit than that. She has other things to do, other than turn you on the straight and narrow." Harry lifted a hand and gently caressed Draco's cheek. "You'll be fine," he whispered. "Please do this for yourself."

Draco offered a weak smile, and taking Harry by surprise, kissed him firmly. The blond then turned around and walked into the office resolutely. The healer smiled at Harry, winked and then closed the door behind herself. Harry sunk heavily into the chair and sighed. "What a piece of work," he muttered.

"Maybe so," Remus said, "but have you seen your ring?"

Harry looked down at it smiling, and was surprised to see it glowing the most brilliant gold, instead of a white gold. It was so bright that Harry had to squint his eyes to see the emeralds on it. "What"

"Once a person wears wizard gold for a while, it attaches to their owner in a way," Sirius informed Harry. "It can sense the mood of both wizards, or witch and wizard, whichever it may be. In your case, it sensed that Draco was feeling intense love and gratitude toward you, so shone it's brightest. See? Even now it's going back to normal because Draco is probably not thinking about you anymore."

Harry looked down to see that it was indeed turning back to a soft silver-white glow. The young Gryffindor smiled contentedly and sat back in his chair with a small sigh. Sirius came to sit on the other side of him.

"You're really happy, aren't you?"

"Yes," Harry replied without hesitation. "I just wish that Voldemort was gone, and then I could really start living my life."

"It'll be over soon enough," Sirius said, though his voice did not contain conviction.

"Maybe. But who knows... it might be me that it's over for, not Voldemort. He might be the one to kill me."

"Don't talk like that!" Remus admonished harshly.

"We all know it's true, Remus," Harry said tiredly.

Remus sighed. "I know, but I don't like to hear you talk like that. If you think pessimistically, nothing good will happen for us. We all deserve something good."

"Yes," Sirius sighed. "Yes, we do."

Another hour later, Draco emerged from the doctor's office, looking shaken. The blond immediately found comfort in Harry's arms, and Harry's ring began to glow brightly again. It made Harry's heart swell, and he squeezed the Slytherin to him tighter. Healer Adina emerged from her office directly after Draco.

"Mr. Potter? Could I speak with you for a moment?"

Harry's brow furrowed and he gently pried Draco from him. "No," Draco whimpered, trying to take hold again.

"Draco, please," Harry pled, worry filling his entire body.

"Harry... don't go."

"I'm going to speak with Healer Adina."

Sirius came up to them and helped take Draco away. Draco seemed reluctant, but also trusted Sirius enough, so clung to him as Harry went to speak with Healer Adina.

"What's wrong with him?" Harry asked, accusation lacing his voice.

"It's the after effects of the spell"

"Spell? What spell?"

"First, Mr. Potter, let me explain the procedure I used. It is very important that you understand what is going on with Draco and how to take care of him after a session. As he gets better, he will not react in this way."

"But what about this spell?"

"That is part of the explanation. In cases such as Draco's, it is necessary to make them relive it..." Harry began to protest but Adina held her hand up to stop him. "I know that you probably do not agree, but it is proven to work in both the Muggle and Wizarding world. In the Muggle case, they hypnotize their patients. I, on the other hand use a spell that will make him relive the incident. Tonight, I had him relive the first time it ever happened. After he was through with the memory, we proceeded from there. The patient is always in one of two states after treatment - the way you see Draco now, clingy, or distant."

Harry looked worriedly at Draco, who had buried his face in Sirius's robes. Sirius was softly stroking his blond hair, murmuring words of comfort. "Is either one better?" he asked.

"Not necessarily, though in my observations, patients who come from their sessions clingy are more susceptible to treatment. They are the ones who want to move past their trauma and live a better life."

"How long will it take for Draco to return to normal after tonight?"

"To get over side effects from reliving the trauma, an hour or so. If you're asking about how long it will take for him to get better from his entire experience, I cannot say."

Harry nodded. "Is there anything else, Healer?"

"Not unless you have any questions that you would like to ask me."

"Well... is there a certain way I should handle him after an appointment?"

"In his case, treat him gently, how your friend is right now. Let him be near whomever he wishes. If you do what he wants, the side effects are likely to vanish more quickly."

"Okay. Thank you."

"You're welcome. Oh, and Mr. Potter? If you could speak with Draco to see if he is willing to visit me twice a week instead of one that would be helpful."

"Why do you want to see him twice?"

"Reliving one memory often takes most of the session, leaving us only a few minutes to speak about it. If I could see him twice a week, it could give us a much needed head start."

"I'll talk to him about it."

"Owl me when you have your answer. Mondays at this time, and Fridays in the afternoons are preferable if you can make it. Have a good night, Mr. Potter."

"Thank you, Healer. You, too."

Harry walked back to Draco and ran a comforting hand down his back. Draco tensed for a moment and looked up at Harry. When he saw who is was, he detached himself from Sirius, and latched onto Harry once more. "Let's go back to Hogwarts," Harry said quietly to his godfather and Remus. Remus pulled out the return portkey which was a full bag of lemon drops. Remus said the Headmaster requested that Harry take it when they were done with it. The four men reappeared in the entrance hall, which was blissfully deserted since it was well after curfew. Draco was still shaking slightly and did not let up his hold on Harry. Sirius looked down on them with concern.

"Why don't you two go to that classroom of yours and spend the night there?"

"Hermione is expecting me to go over some wedding things," Harry said.

"Why don't I send her down to you?" Remus suggested. "I can nip up there for a few minutes and escort her down."

"Is that okay, Draco?" Harry asked.

Draco lessened his hold and nodded, smiling apologetically. "I'm sorry," he muttered. "I feel like a fool."

"It's okay," Harry murmured, stroking his blond hair. "It's understandable."

"You boys go on up then. I'll go visit Dobby so that he can send you some tea and something to eat." Sirius ruffled Harry's hair and then hurried towards the kitchens. Remus climbed the stairs with them until it was time to part, bid them goodnight and continued his way to Gryffindor Tower.

Draco and Harry found that somebody had supplied their classroom with some of their clothes, so they changed wearily into their pyjamas and sunk onto the couch, waiting for Hermione to arrive. A small knock sounded on the door five minutes later and Hermione entered with a large book weighing her down.

"I don't believe it," she said, plopping the book onto the table in front of them with a loud thump.

"What?" Harry asked.

"That you were out looking for a place to live. Where were you?"

"No whe"

"I was at a therapist," Draco said, trying to sound disdainful, but he ended up sounding drained.

"Therapist?" Hermione asked blankly. "Why would you need to go to a therapist?"

"The same reason anybody else would. I have problems."

"Oh," she said, furrowing her eyebrows as she sat slowly in a chair. "Well, are you both up to planning the wedding tonight?" Harry smiled gratefully at her when she obviously decided not to prod any further.

"We are until we fall asleep," Draco replied, burrowing into the cushions behind him.

"Well," Hermione said briskly, moving so that she sat in-between the two boys. "We'll start with colours. Were you two thinking of any specific colours that you wanted in your wedding? I was thinking you two could each pick your own colour, obviously something that matches, or looks well together, and have those colours as your vests. The rest of your attire could be white. Ginny and I looked up colours and their meanings for weddings. I have some right here." She pushed the book toward Harry, flipped to a page in the middle that had a large caption on the top that appropriately said, 'Colours.'

"Well, I don't know, Hermione," Harry scratched his head. "I want to find out what we're wearing before we find out a colour."

"I know what we're wearing already," Draco said, on the edge of falling asleep.

"You do?" Harry asked. "What are we wearing?"

"Never you mind. It's a surprise."

"I don't trust it," Harry argued.

"I'm designing it," Draco said indignantly, rising from sleep, glaring at Harry.

"You design clothes?" Harry asked incredulously.

"I've never done it before, no... But, I've always had these dream robes that I've always wanted made, but I've never had the chance to actually draw them or anything. They're fancy enough for a wedding."

"You can draw?" Hermione asked.

"I'm not bad," Draco shrugged. "I do it every once in a while, but I wouldn't say I'm great at it or anything."

"I never knew that," Harry frowned slightly.

"It's nothing I've ever wanted to share with anybody before." If anything, Harry frowned even more, slightly offended. "Stop that, Harry," Draco smacked Harry lightly on the arm. "I'll show you some day. Do you want me to design our wedding robes?"

"If you really want to."

Draco's eyes lit up with glee. "I can't wait to wear them. They're going to be magnificent. My father would never let me tell anybody exactly what I wanted, and of course these are a little too fancy to go strutting around in at Diagon Alley or something."

Hermione raised her eyebrows and cleared her throat. "But you have to have some idea of what colour here interests you, Harry... Draco."

The boys looked to the list and contemplated. "Yellow, pink, and red are definitely out of the question because they're ugly," Draco said, putting a magical line through them with his wand. "My first choices are silver, green"

"Figures," Hermione muttered.

Draco glared. "Not because they're Slytherin... I like them. Anyway, silver, green, and dark blue."

"I like all of those, but I like gold better than dark blue," Harry offered.

"Well, unless you both change your minds about them, I think we can put a safe bet on green and silver since they're your moot point," Hermione said, crossing out all colours except the four that the boys liked. "Maybe we'll be able to work gold and dark blue into the ceremony or reception somehow. That way, you'll both be happy. Now it is just the matter of deciding who will be wearing what colour."

"I'll wear green," Draco said, "and Harry can wear silver... being the bride and all that. It is the closest to white."

Harry pushed Draco lightly on the shoulder while Hermione snickered. "Anyway," Hermione continued. "As for flowers... I read up on Medieval weddings, and found some of their rituals for flowers nice. We could try rosemary tied into garlands, and burned in incense braziers. We could also get some freshly cut herb leaves and flower petals to scatter along the path that you will walk down. But then Ginny also suggested charming the room you get married in to rain flower petals down, and I thought that that would be lovely as well." "Granger," Draco yawned. "I'm tired. I've had an exhausting night, and the last thing I want to be dreaming about are flower petals falling from a ceiling. Can we please talk about this some other time?"

Hermione 'hmphed', closed her book with a slam and stood. Harry stood along with her. "I'm sorry, Hermione," he said softly. "But he has had a rough time tonight."

She sighed and nudged Draco's ankle with her toe. "I'm sorry for being huffy," she apologised.

"You can't apologise for being a girl, Granger. There is no remedy for that, I'm afraid," Draco yawned again, standing up.

"You're evil," Harry whispered.

"'Tis my goal in life, Harry, dear," he said, mock bowing.

Harry scowled. "Don't call me dear."

"I'm going to bed, dear. Why don't you show Miss Granger to the door, and join me?"

Harry gently took Hermione by the elbow and led her to the door. "I'm sorry for his superb ability at being a prat. It's a part of his nature."

"You didn't have to tell me that, Harry," she smiled softly. "Goodnight."

"Do you want me to walk you back?" Harry asked, brows furrowed in worry.

"I'll be fine, thanks."

"Okay." Harry kissed her cheek. "Goodnight. Thanks for helping us."

"It's no problem. I've enjoyed myself so far. I'll see you at breakfast."

When Harry arrived in bed, it was to find that Draco was already snoring softly. Harry knew that if he did not fall asleep soon, Draco's snoring would become unbearable. Draco did not snore too loud, but it was still loud and annoying enough to keep Harry awake at times. The Gryffindor pulled off his shirt, climbed into bed, pulling the blond into his arms, and had he more time to dwell on it, would have been surprised at the ease in which he fell asleep.

Another week passed, in which Draco agreed to see the therapist two times a week, and Harry was being pestered more than ever by Hermione and Ginny about the wedding. They had come to a decision that they would have flowers falling on them if Draco agreed. Harry thought the idea would be better if a girl was getting married, but decided to go with it since the girls looked ready to hurt somebody. Other than that, they had decided on which brand of wine to serve, food, and had a comprehensive list on which musical groups would serve best at the reception.

The Tuesday after Draco's third appointment with Healer Adina, Hermione and Ginny were hounding Harry once more with centrepieces for the tables. Harry was currently sitting on the top stair of the marble staircase, one girl on each side. If he had known that a wedding involved this much when Draco proposed, he thought miserably, he would have said no. As Harry's thoughts dwelled on turning Draco down, the blond appeared in the Entrance hall below, dressed down to summer robes. It had been surprisingly warm all spring, so all the students had been taking advantage and wearing their favourite summer robes and Muggle clothes during free time.

A small smile crossed Harry's face as Draco spotted him and waved. Harry stood to go meet him, but Hermione pulled him back down. "Harry, you need to give us your opinion on this!"

"I'm not interested right now."

"You're never interested!" Ginny exclaimed.

"I am too. You just get me at the wrong times. Besides, I think we have done quite a bit in the past week. Those were hard decisions."

"Well, you still haven't decided which band to have."

"I need Draco's opinion!"

"You need my opinion for what?" Draco asked as he ascended the stairs.

"Musical groups," Ginny informed him.

"Easy. Clinton's Wily Wizards."

"I've never heard of them," Ginny said.

"They're a new underground group that I was just introduced to. Apparently, they're all gay and have illicit affairs with each other." Draco grinned at the girl's perplexed faces.

"That's all well and good, Draco," Hermione began, "but are they any good?"

"They're all right. But what's the point? They wouldn't mind singing at a gay wedding because they're gay." Draco had reached forward and was playing idly with Harry's messy locks as he spoke. Harry closed his eyes.

"Hey," Draco said suddenly, his breath brushing across Harry's face. The Gryffindor jumped back a few inches and opened his eyes. Draco was right in front of him. "I fancy a snog. Want to go?"

Harry laughed, turning red and nodded. "That's my boy," Draco purred, offering Harry a hand up.

"Wait a minute! You can't just go because you 'fancy a snog!'" Hermione exclaimed indignantly.

"On the contrary," Draco replied, and with Harry's hand in his, turned around to go down the stairs. They did not even make it to the bottom however, when both girls cut their progress off.

"I don't think so," Ginny insisted, hands on hips.

Draco mocked her stance with an added pout to his lips. "I think so."

Harry leaned in toward the blond and whispered, "I think the only way we get out of this one is to run."

"Yes, you're probably right."

Without a moment's hesitation, the boys darted around each side of the barrier, and ran out of the castle into the hot, early summer air. The girls were following on their heels, wedding book forgotten on the steps. Harry motioned for Draco to follow him and then headed for the Forbidden Forest. They only went in a few feet, wound through trees directly at the edge, coming out by the border of the lake a good way away from the castle. Harry could hear Hermione speaking indignantly to Ginny.

"I can't believe they went into the Forbidden Forest just to get away from us. Honestly, we aren't that bad."

Draco snickered. "Oh, but they are." Harry smiled and watched as Hermione and Ginny's forms became larger as they walked the edge of the forest.

"Come on. They'll find us if we stay here."

The two boys crept from the forest and walked stealthily back towards the castle on the shore of the lake. "Ah ha!" they heard one of the Gryffindor girls cry in triumph as they were spotted. Draco let out a sort of excited giggle and pulled Harry into a run. They ran through the area where a group of Hufflepuffs were situated on the lakeshore, soaking up the summer sun, digesting their newly eaten dinners.

"Over here," Draco whispered breathlessly. "I used to come here in fifth year."

Draco led them into a partially secluded spot some twenty feet from where the Hufflepuffs were. Harry cast a concealment charm around the small area and dropped onto the ground. Draco let his cloak fall from his shoulders to the ground in one swift movement. "Damn. It's so hot out here!" he exclaimed as he caught his breath. "Before you know it, I'll start doing something unbecoming like sweat or something."

"You sweat when you play Quidditch, and you already are sweating," Harry pointed out smoothly as he stared out at the giant squid, who was languidly propelling himself across the surface of the water.

"That's different. I'm actually exerting myself, unlike now. We're just sitting here."

"Do you have short term memory? We were the birds in the wild goose chase just now."

"Shut up, Potter."

"Well, I'm just pointing out that it wouldn't be unbecoming because you did just exert yourself."

"But it is unbecoming because I had no good reason to run out here." Draco's look was smug and stubborn at the same time.

"I'd say we did," Harry replied darkly.

Draco snorted and leaned back into the grass, supported by his elbows. "Granger and Weaslette are not a reason to get scared and run out here, Harry."

"You thought so differently five minutes ago. Stop acting all macho now that we've rid of them. Besides, you haven't been around them lately! They're horrible! They won't leave me alone."

Draco smirked and poked Harry in the side. "Well, you are the bride."

"I am not the bride!" Harry huffed indignantly, poking Draco's side. "And it wouldn't seem like I was so much if you helped me out with planning our wedding once in a while!"

"I help."

"Drawing a very ugly, and not to mention very inappropriate dress for me to wear is not what I call helping. Besides, I don't wear dresses." Draco had come to Harry a few days after he had declared that he would design their robes, with a drawing of a very frilly, short dress for Harry to wear at their wedding. For five horrifying minutes, Harry had believed that Draco was serious.

"You will at our wedding."

"Draco!" Harry whined. "Shut up! I will not be in a dress as long as I am planning this."

"Then I'll take over."

"Oh, no you don't."

"Okay. Have it your way."

"I will! You will have no part in planning!"

"Fine by me," Draco replied calmly.

Draco then laid down into the grass and closed his eyes, enjoying the warmth from the setting, orange sun. Harry looked forward blinking in confusion. He turned to look at Draco and found that he had a smug grin on his face as he looked at the inside of his eyelids.

"You prat!" Harry exclaimed. "You're such an evil... cunning... piece of Slytherin slime!"

"Well, I didn't make you say that I didn't have to help with the wedding. You said it willingly."

"Because you said you were going to put me in a dress if you planned it!"

"There were plenty of things you could have said before you said I didn't have to help at all. Have fun with Granger and Weaslette."

Harry turned back towards the lake and sulked. After a few minutes, Draco laughed, sat up and gave Harry's cheek a chaste kiss. "Fancy a swim?" he asked even as he stood up, pulling his shirt over his head.

"I don't have anything to swim in," Harry replied, still sulking.

"So? Take your clothes off then," Draco suggested easily.

"Skinny dip?" Harry looked to where the Hufflepuffs had been and found to his horror that they were gone. "I don't think so. That would be mortifying if anybody saw us."

"Why? Everybody knows we're getting married. They obviously suspect that we've done a little more than kissing. Strip! ... Do we really have to go through this again?"

"Yes, because I'm not skinny dipping!"

Draco sighed as he pulled down his trousers, which his boxers quickly followed. Harry bit his lip as he ran his eyes over Draco's pale body. He glanced over his shoulder to make sure that nobody was around. "I'm not coming."

"Fine," Draco said loftily, turned and began to walk away with a little more swing to his hips than normal.

Harry felt his mouth go dry as he watched Draco's pale, round butt walk away. Before he could think twice, Harry was standing on his feet, stripping his clothes off and running in after Draco. Draco had already gone under the cool water as Harry dove in after him. When they came face to face, Draco had a devilish smirk on his face.

"I knew you couldn't resist me. You left your glasses on though."

Harry shrugged. "I can see this way."

"Okay. I'm going to go have some fun. Coming?"

"Depends on how you define 'fun'."

"Just come out to the middle of the lake with me and you'll find out."

Draco began swimming to the middle of the lake, and nearer to the giant squid. Harry swallowed his nervousness and went after his fiancé. He found that he actually quite enjoyed swimming in the water without anything on. The water moved freely around every part of his body, making him feel completely free from everything. The dark-haired boy flipped onto his back and swam languidly through the water, staring up at the red and orange sky with a benign smile on his face. Not until he collided with Draco's back, did Harry stop and turn around. Harry's eyes widened in disbelief when he saw just what the blond was doing.

The squid was right in front of them, its tentacles coming out of the water, and Draco was petting one of them. "Draco... are you mad? That thing is probably dangerous!"

"Says who? I hear he quite likes the students and has saved a few first years from drowning on the trip to Hogwarts every year."

Harry was about to say that the squid had not done so, but then remembered that the squid had saved Dennis Creevey in his first year, so could not say anything against it. "But still," Harry hissed. "Don't aggravate it."

"What do you think would aggravate it?" Draco asked lazily as he continued to stroke the top of the tentacles.

"I don't know, but I'm not ready to find out."

Draco smirked evilly at Harry over his shoulder. Harry thought that the Slytherin may have something up his sleeve, but Draco only continued to pet the squid. "How do you think he would like to be tickled?" Draco asked, and from the flailing of the squid's tentacle, Draco had begun to tickle it. Harry moved back a bit in alarm.

"Stop it!" he whispered fiercely. "He could get pissed off at you."

Draco began to tickle another tentacle. The whole squid began to protest, and quite suddenly, Harry felt a tentacle wrap around his ankle. He let out a startled yelp before he was pulled underneath the water, sucking in lake water when he tried to yell. Thankfully, however, the squid did not pull him very hard, so Harry was able to resurface quickly by kicking his one leg and arms. The Gryffindor coughed and spluttered while glaring angrily at Draco, who had not noticed him going under.

Draco turned to look at him, amused. "Need swimming lessons, Harry?"

"No!" Harry all but yelled angrily. "The squid has my ankle you idiot! Stop tickling him!"

"Stop playing games. You just want me to stop."

Harry tried looking through the water. The tentacle wrapped around his ankle was moving between his legs. "This is uncomfortable. Draco, I'm not playing games wi—" Draco must have touched a sensitive spot on the squid because suddenly, the whole creature jerked, and the tentacle between his legs knocked him in the groin. Harry let out an agonized yell. He stopped moving his body altogether, placing his hands over his crotch. He sunk into the water and did not even bother trying to get back to the surface. Whimpers were coming unconsciously from his mouth, making bubbles rise to the surface. He curled his body up in the water, holding himself as much as the squid would let him and let out a long gurgled moan of pain. It was then that he felt Draco pulling him back up to the surface.

"Harry... what..."

Harry moaned again as he coughed up water, and leaned into Draco's body. He moaned pitifully.

"Harry..."

The squid yanked hard on Harry's ankle again, and nearly pulled Draco down as well. However, Draco's grip slipped and Harry was pulled underneath the water again. This time, he felt a small wave of water move over him as Draco moved in the water, and felt fingers grasp at the tentacles surrounding Harry's ankle. It took a while, in which Harry started to lose his breath, but Draco finally managed to get Harry free of the squid, and pull Harry away from it with all his might. They resurfaced some fifteen feet from the squid that was still flailing, but thankfully was not coming after them.

"Merlin... Harry, I'm so sorry. I didn't know it would do that."

Harry let out a sob of pain, realising that touching it even the slightest bit was causing a great deal of pain. When he tried to swim back to shore, found he could hardly move.

"I thought he only had your ankle?" Draco wondered as he began swimming both of them to shore.

"He whacked my bits!" Harry yelled out. He panted in both exertion and pain. "I'm going to be sterile," he whimpered. Draco let out a small snort of laughter. "Don't be daft. You'll be fine."

It took them twice as long to get to the shore as it would have if they were both uninjured. Harry crawled slowly into the grass and collapsed onto his back, panting heavily. Draco let out a pained sound of sympathy as he stood up, gathering their clothes. "I'm glad it wasn't me," he grinned.

"Thanks," Harry grunted as he squinted his eyes shut. He heard Draco drop down onto his knees beside him. "I don't want to move. It hurts."

"That goes without saying. I'll dry us off and put your clothes on."

Draco was smiling as he worked, trying not to look Harry in the eye. Harry, however, could see his expression and was annoyed. "Stop looking like that. Would you like me to kick you?"

"That's okay," Draco winked. "I'm sure you've got enough pain for the both of us."

Harry dropped his head back on the ground with a whimper. Draco then sobered, and before he buttoned Harry's trousers, he whispered an incantation that cooled the area and Harry felt a little better. "Thanks," Harry said quietly.

Draco smiled at him. "Let's get you to Madam Pomfrey. I'm sure she can help you in a heartbeat." He zipped Harry up and they started for the castle. Madam Pomfrey was brisk when they arrived; one application of salve, and two potions later, Harry was feeling almost back to normal. She had him stay for a couple hours until dinner, and he and Draco finally left.

"What would you think if I did somehow become sterile, Draco?" Harry asked as they sat down to do homework in their classroom later that night. "Would you even care?"

"Why wouldn't I?" Draco raised a brow without looking up from his Arithmancy book.

"I don't know. Do you want kids?"

"Why do you ask?" Draco looked up, calm annoyance on his face.

Harry shrugged. "I'm curious. We _are_ getting married, aren't we? I haven't seriously thought about children, but someday. Maybe. They'd be nice."

Draco put his quill down. "Right now, I'm concentrating on school and the threat of Voldemort. After school, I will start concentrating on getting married. If we're lucky, Voldemort will be gone as well, but we can never be too lucky. Then, if Fate permits, I'll start thinking about the other thing."

Sighing, Harry sat back in his chair. "And you don't think I'm not concentrating on that? Voldemort is on my mind every minute of every day, except when I'm busy getting kicked by the giant squid. N.E.W.T.s are coming very soon, and I'm studying hard for those. I want to become an Auror and the stress of it is making me want to pull out my hair. Plus, the planning of the wedding isn't exactly easy. But I was just looking for a straight-forward answer, Draco. For a moment, forget all those worries. If we were a several years older and everything was fine and dandy, would you want kids? If I were sterile, what you do?"

"Okay, Harry. I do want children, maybe two, and one of them had better be a girl. I'd much rather the girl be the eldest. And if you were sterile, I'd leave you, of course." Draco smirked at Harry and looked back to his book.

"Be serious."

"I am being serious."

"No, you're not," Harry insisted.

With a sigh, Draco looked up again. "Harry, I love you. And I need an heir. So don't ever become sterile, because I certainly don't want to have children without you. I don't know why you're asking because this isn't an issue for us right now. As far as we know, we're both healthy enough."

The conversation stilled for a few minutes as Harry was content with the answer. After all, he was not looking to have kids immediately. They were still young.

"I know how you can reduce your stress a little," Draco said suddenly.

"How would that be?"

"You could decide to do something else for a career. Getting into the Auror program is difficult, you know. There are a lot of people who won't make it."

"I'm not going to change my mind, Draco."

"I know that, but I think you should. Be realistic, Harry."

"I am."

"I don't think so. How well did you do, honestly, on your O.W.L.s? How well do you think you'll do on the N.E.W.T.s? They're difficult tests."

Harry gritted his teeth. "So what you're saying, Draco is that I'm not smart enough to be admitted into the program."

"I never said you were stupid."

"Neither did I."

"Well, there you are then. Neither of us thinks you're stupid."

"But you do think I'm not smart _enough_ to be admitted."

"If you study hard enough and make a good effort, I think you'll do fine on the tests." Draco bit his lip as he looked at Harry. He hesitated. "I'm just not so sure you have what it takes to be an Auror."

Harry stared for a few seconds before letting out a short laugh, though it contained little humour. "You can't be serious."

Draco looked openly regretful as he nodded his head.

There were many words for the emotions rushing through his body, Harry was sure. Incredulity was one of them, he thought. Betrayal. Absolute sadness. He shook his head. "How could you say something like that to me?"

The two young men sat in silence, both unsure of what to say. Finally, after many painful minutes, Harry closed his books and stood to leave. "This is all I want to do, Draco. You've known for a while now, and you still can't wrap your mind around it. I used to know that you could be spiteful, back when we weren't even friends, but I suppose that sex and the word love can make somebody forget what _shouldn't_ be forgotten."

"Harry…." Draco said quietly as the Gryffindor stood.

Harry walked to the door and turned around. "I wonder what you'll do when I become an Auror. Do you think I should stick around long enough to find out?"

Outside of the classroom, Harry stopped and took a deep breath, attempting to push down the betrayal welling within him. He waited a moment before starting back to the Gryffindor Common Room where he knew there were people who supported him.

* * *

Please review! I'll remind all of you that this fic is finished in the writing and beta process. All that needs to be done is posting. I should be updating at least once a week from here on out. After the epilogue is posted, I will posting the first chapter to the sequel (yet to be titled) about a week after that. Again, if you want to be kept in the know for the remaining parts to this trilogy go join my Yahoo group! I'll send update notices, and post cookies for upcoming chapters. 


	17. All's Well

**A/N:** Thanks to all those who read and reviewed! Please keep the encouraging words coming. Also, a huge thanks to my beta, PadfootsBitch.

* * *

**Remember You**  
_Chapter Seventeen_

As the rest of the week passed, Harry immersed himself in his studies. The N.E.W.T's were approaching quickly. There were only two weeks until the tests, and Harry's nerves were frazzled trying to jam everything he had learned into his head. Draco had avoided Harry since Tuesday evening's argument. It was now Friday morning and his day was blissfully free until three that afternoon, so Harry was sitting in the library after breakfast, studying feverishly for Potions. Draco had promised to help him with it, but since they were at odds, Harry was on his own.

His quiet studies were interrupted when Sirius walked resolutely into the library and seated himself across from his godson. "Morning, Harry."

Harry grunted, but did not look up from his book. "How are things with you and Draco?" Harry grunted in response once more. "I'm going to need a better response than that."

"Why?"

"Well, Remus and I were wondering if you were accompanying us to Draco's appointment with Healer Adina at eleven this morning."

"Of course I was."

"Did you make up with him?"

"No."

Sirius seemed surprised now. "Then why are you agreeing to go?"

Harry looked to the side, sighing tiredly. "He may need some lessons in tactfulness in some things, but… no matter what, I love Draco. He needs me after those appointments, and I'm not going to let him down."

"That's very mature, Harry. I'm proud that you can distinguish what is important."

Harry slammed his book shut, earning a reproving look from Madam Pince, but he ignored her completely. "So you think that I'm being just a silly little boy for thinking that this is important?"

"That's not what I said. I just meant that some things are more important, and in this case, Draco's appointments are the important matter. Besides, I just can't see that Draco meant what he said. Why don't you talk to him about it?"

"I've already tried doing that many times before Tuesday. I thought he was going to be okay with it. I can't change his mind."

"Talk to him again. He has to learn to accept it."

"Let's hope."

Sirius sighed. "There is nothing he can do about the way he feels. There has to be a way that you can compromise."

Harry glared.

Sirius held up his hands in surrender. "I didn't mean compromise your possible career as an Auror." Sirius sighed. "Harry, I'm not here to make things better between the two of you. That's something you'll have to do on your own. However, he feels awful enough as it is. He has come to see me this week because Snape was too busy to talk. He's very distressed about what he said and about what you said when you left. He thinks you're just getting the courage to leave him. I think he said something along the lines of, 'And he'll find the courage soon enough, won't he? He's a bloody Gryffindor.'"

"Maybe I _should_ find the courage to leave him."

"You don't mean that. I don't like seeing you like this, Harry."

"I'm sorry, Sirius, but how can I live with somebody who doesn't support what I do? It's almost like your mum and dad. They never really supported you, and you ran away to my dad's house!"

"That's different."

"How so?"

"I didn't believe in what they were condoning."

"I don't believe in what Draco is condoning! As long as I'm with him, he doesn't care if I'm unhappy or not."

"I can't say if that's true or not, so you'll have to just _talk to him._ You need communication to make a marriage work, and if you're not communicating before the marriage, what will happen after the wedding? Will you ignore each other while you're living in the same small space? Because no matter how big your home is, it'll seem suffocating if you're not speaking. It'll seem like you're walking all over each other even if you hardly see him. Do you want that?"

"Of course not." "Then you know what to do." Sirius looked down at his watch. "It's half past ten. Let's go to my office. Draco and Remus are meeting us there."

Harry gathered up his books and put them into his bag before following Sirius to his office. When they arrived, they heard laughter from inside. Sirius opened the door, revealing Remus in the very tail end of a story that had Draco in hysterics. Remus was very animated, and even seemed to be acting out the story. Sirius smiled fondly as Remus stood up straight, straightened his robes and promptly turned pink.

"Telling stories again, Moony? Should have known."

"Again?" Harry questioned as he closed the door.

Sirius kissed Remus's cheek before Sirius turned to explain. "Yes. Believe it or not, Remus has always been a very good story teller. His scary stories had me pissing my pants... literally one time come to think of it."

"Yeah... in James's bed if I recall," Remus smiled.

Sirius let out a barking laugh. "Yeah," he said reverently. "He hexed me good. But it was his fault! He's the one who jumped on me from behind."

"You knew he was behind you!" Remus exclaimed.

"It didn't make it any less frightening," Sirius grinned. "You peed in dad's bed?" Harry asked, laughing.

"Yeah…. That was one scary story... What was it about again, Remus?"

Remus smiled indulgently. "I don't recall exactly. I think I made up a story about gnomes because James told me how you always ran away screaming whenever you saw one."

Sirius let out a barking laugh. "Yes, I think you're right. I used to hate gnomes."

"Still do," Remus muttered as he checked his watch. "Anyway, we should get going so that we aren't late." The werewolf pulled out an old pocket watch and told them to grab onto it. The two older men and Harry grabbed it, but Draco did not. He was busy staring at Harry.

"What?" Harry asked.

"Why are you coming?"

"If it's a problem, I can stay behind."

"No... it isn't. I was hoping you would, but it's just... I thought you were mad."

"I'm really pissed off actually."

"Oh. Well, I'm sorry. I really am."

"Okay then. Grab on."

"But..."

"But what, Draco?" Harry asked exasperated, stepping away from his godfather and Remus. "What do you want me to say?"

"I don't know."

"Then I don't know what to say."

"Well, if you're so mad at me, why are you coming now?"

"Don't be daft. You need me after these appointments and I know it. Besides, just because I'm mad at you, doesn't mean I don't love you."

"I don't like being in fights with you."

"Well, neither do I. But I can't help it that you're a daft prick." When Draco stood fidgeting in front of him, Harry sighed. "I'm coming to your appointment."

Harry pulled Draco to him and made him touch the pocket watch. Remus activated it with the touch of his wand, and in a few seconds, the four men were gone.

Nearly an hour and a half later, Draco emerged from the healer's office, sweating and shaking terribly. Healer Adina had made him relive his second memory, and he seemed no better off than he was the first time. Harry stood as Draco emerged, and the blond wasted no time in hurtling himself at the darker boy. Harry stroked his hair, offering meaningless comfort words. Draco turned his face up towards Harry.

"Harry," he whimpered.

"Yes?"

Draco abruptly kissed Harry, clinging to him fiercely. Harry obligingly kissed his boyfriend back as he remembered the healer's advice to give Draco whatever he wanted after an appointment. Sirius started to say something to break them up, but Adina had come out of her office to receive her next patient.

"Please do not interrupt, Mr. Black," she said seriously. "It's part of the healing process." She then called out the name of her next patient and disappeared into her office.

"Do you get the feeling that she's not all there?" Harry heard Sirius mutter to Remus. "If snogging my boyfriend is a part of therapy, I want in."

Harry lifted both his and Draco's hands, indicating that they were ready to go back to Hogwarts, and felt somebody guide their fingers onto an object. Harry felt the familiar pull behind his navel as Draco continued snogging him senseless. It was either Sirius or Remus who guided them to a chair, forcing Harry to sit with Draco on top. The door opened.

"Er - don't do anything I wouldn't do in a professor's office," Sirius said loudly.

"Sirius, there isn't much you _wouldn't_ do in a professor's office, so be quiet and leave them alone."

The door closed and as far as Harry knew, they were alone in Sirius's office. Draco moved down to nibble on Harry's neck. Harry turned to face the ceiling as he drew in great gulps of air. All of a sudden, Draco stopped, and Harry felt something warm and wet on his neck. The Gryffindor realised with some horror that he was crying.

"Draco? Are you okay?"

"I can't do it anymore, Harry. I can't go back to her. I can't relive those memories again. I just want to forget it all. You heard Professor Black... she's not all there. How do we know that she knows what she's doing?"

"Pomfrey wouldn't have suggested her if she didn't know what she was doing. But I can talk to Pomfrey about Adina if you like."

"Yes. Please. I just... I can't do it. The second memory... that I relived today... that was when Voldemort first. That's all I can think about... is him." Draco sat up suddenly and stared at Harry with manic, red rimmed eyes. "Harry, I have to forget." He fisted Harry's robes. "Please... help me. Make love to me. I want to feel you inside me. I want to remember _you_. Not Voldemort. Please." The blond started to fumble with Harry's clothes, desperate to get them off. Harry grabbed his hands and kissed them both gently.

"Not when you're like this, Draco. You're in distress. You have to calm down. Take a deep breath."

Draco began to breathe deeply. "I still want you in me," he whispered.

Harry felt something in his gut tighten with those words, but he would not let himself give in. "Not now. Not when you're like this."

Draco collapsed against Harry's body, breathing deeply. "I'm sorry. I want to be normal again."

"You are normal. You just have to get better again, and you will, Draco. You will."

The boys sat in silence for nearly five minutes, and Harry began to think that the blond in his lap had fallen asleep. He was breathing deeply in and out, and only when Harry remembered that Draco snored while sleeping, did Draco speak. "Harry... I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I'll never be able to take it back."

"Take what back? You can't help how you act after therapy. It's a part of the side effect."

"Not that... About..." Draco reached up with both hands and cupped Harry's head between them, and nestled his face against Harry's neck. "About what I said on Tuesday, about you not being Auror material."

"Oh, that."

Draco lifted his head to look at Harry, regret wrinkling his eyes. "You have to know that I didn't mean it, Harry."

"But I don't know that you didn't mean it. You seemed especially serious to me."

Draco looked lost for a moment, but he blinked and he was himself again. "This has taken a lot for me to gain the courage to say, so I'm just going to get it over with. There's a lot more to this than you think, Harry. But first, you have to know that I did not under any circumstances mean what I said. I don't know why I said it. I thought it would make you change your mind about being an Auror. I never even considered that it would upset you like this. I can see the faulty reasoning behind that now."

Harry scoffed. Draco moved his thumbs in circles against Harry's cheeks.

"At any rate, the main reason for me not wanting you to be an Auror is simply because I'll worry too much about you. And I know that you'll worry about me when I become one, but for some reason it doesn't seem as bad. There's faulty reasoning behind this as well, I just don't have a name for it. But the reason that you'll only hear me say this once, and trust me, only this once…" Draco laughed, shaking his head. "It'll sound stupid out loud, but I suppose it's always been this way, even since we've become friends and lovers. It's just… you're Harry Potter."

Harry blinked. "Yes. It's nice to meet you, too… what's your name again? Draco Malone?"

"Shut up. I'm serious here. I mean that you're _Harry Potter_. That means something to everybody. What does Draco Malfoy mean to anybody? It means the son of a known Death Eater, Lucius Malfoy. It basically means I'm scum. If you and I become Aurors, I'll have to constantly prove myself against you. I don't want competition. I don't want to continue doing that after Hogwarts. I've had to do it ever since we met, and now we're getting married. I don't want to be second best to you in Quidditch and my career. I want to be separate from you. I don't want to resent you for besting me in everything I do. If you're not there in the Academy with me, I won't have to worry. Do you see what I'm saying?"

"I see what you're saying, Draco, but I don't understand why you're worrying so much about it. Quidditch at Hogwarts is nothing. It's a game, plain and simple. If I beat you at Quidditch five years ago because you didn't see the Snitch, who's going to remember in ten years, or even now?"

"I do. You do."

"That's obvious. Of course we'll remember our own highlights and lowlights. And Draco, when we're Aurors, nobody will care about who we are when we're out there in the field. It's about doing the job and doing it well. Maybe at some point in my career, I'll be awarded for doing something really well, but maybe you will too. Maybe I will never get anything, but Muggle astronauts will see you from the moon because of all the medals awarded."

Draco blinked, not understanding the reference to Muggles on the moon. But, he shrugged. "I doubt it."

"Back to the point, Draco, is you're being a little selfish. You don't know how things will turn out when we become Aurors, yet you're already assuming that you'll be miserable working with me. You don't know that. But you think that just as long as you're happy with me at home, then we'll all be happy. You're asking me to sacrifice my happiness for yours. In some situations, I'd say yes, because I'll do practically anything for you. But this, I'm not moving. If you want to prove yourself, you'll have to work at it, just like anybody else, just as I'll have to do. When people look at me, they think, 'He's Harry Potter. He's supposed to be something special.' So then I'll have to prove myself, and I don't always prove to be the best at everything. I'm sorry, but I'm not moving on this subject." "Fine." Draco looked disappointed as he slid off of Harry's lap, and offered the darker boy a hand up. "Let's go see if lunch is still in the Great Hall then; I'm starving."

Harry took the proffered hand and stood, leading Draco out of Sirius's office and into the hallway. "I don't know how I feel about this yet, Draco. You said some nasty things to me."

"I know. I'm sorry; I wasn't thinking. I'll make it up to you. I don't know how yet, but I will. But for now, will you at least talk to me like I'm your fiancé?"

"I could give it my best shot."

"That'll be good enough," Draco smiled. He pulled Harry close and they walked down the hallway, arms wrapped around each other. When they arrived at the entrance hall, they found that the last students were leaving lunch and they could see that the tables were cleared up already.

"Well, let's go down to the kitchens," Harry suggested. "I still have plenty of time before class."

"Me too."

The boys turned in the direction of the kitchens, but stopped their progress when they heard screaming outside. They looked towards the door. In the next moment, it flew open, letting in third year Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws who were supposed to be in Care of Magical Creatures. Hagrid was herding them into the castle. Draco stepped forward, alarm on his face.

"What's going on?" he commanded, making sure his Head Boy badge glared into everybody's eyes.

A third year Hufflepuff, who looked beyond terrified, looked up at him and burst into tears, nearly collapsing to the floor. Draco, thoroughly surprised, caught her before she hit the ground. Another girl beside them, tried to help her friend.

"What happened?" Draco asked the coherent girl.

"There are magical creatures all over the grounds," she whispered fearfully. "A... a lethifold came and attacked a Ravenclaw boy. Ha... Hagrid can't do magic... Evan - that's the boys name - was eaten by th... the lethifold." A few tears leaked down her face as Hagrid slammed the doors shut.

"What kinds of magical creatures?" Draco asked, as Harry absorbed this bit of horrifying news.

"I don't know all their names!" the girl cried out. "I'm a Muggle-born. I only know that it was a lethifold because she..." The girl pointed to her friend who was still in hysterics in Draco's arms. "She told me what it was. I think the big human-like things in cloaks are Dementors, but that's all I could see. I didn't notice anything else."

Harry felt his blood run cold at the mention of Dementors. Dumbledore and McGonagall came running down the stairs, demanding to know what had happened. Hagrid, through tears of his own told the story of what had just occurred.

"Somebody needs to get the students out of the Greenhouses," McGonagall said briskly. "I'll arrange for Black and Lupin to gather a team together to fly there."

"That will be good Minerva," Dumbledore said, looking contemplative. The old man looked to Draco and Harry who were trying to comfort the girl who was crying, and approached them. "Would I be able to trust you two to escort these students to their dormitories?"

"Of course, sir," Harry said. "Draco, you take the Hufflepuffs. I'll gather the Ravenclaws."

Draco nodded and began calling the Hufflepuffs.

After they had brought the younger students to their dormitories, Harry and Draco met in the Entrance Hall and found all Prefects and Head Girl, Hermione were gathered there, having a hushed discussion with Professor Dumbledore.

"Oh, Harry! Draco!" Hermione called out as she saw them approaching from different directions. "Professor McGonagall is asking the Quidditch players in seventh year to help get the first years and Professor Sprout from the Greenhouse. Do you want to go?"

"Of course," Harry replied without hesitation. "Just let me summon my Firebolt."

"I already did it," Hermione briskly replied, holding out a hand to Ernie Macmillan - the Hufflepuff Prefect. Ernie handed her the Firebolt and she handed it to Harry. "I knew you would say yes," she explained.

Draco had summoned his broom just as Harry said that he would help, and Harry had to duck as it zoomed up the stairs and to the gathered Prefects.

"I'll help as well," the blond said needlessly.

"Great. You are to meet Professor McGonagall in the Astronomy Tower in ten minutes," Professor Dumbledore informed them. "Afterwards, there will be a Prefects meeting with myself and Professor McGonagall."

"Yes, sir," the boys chorused together and then headed up the marble staircase. Draco grabbed at Harry's hand and squeezed tightly.

"You'll be okay, right? I mean with the Dementors and everything?"

"Of course, I will be. I can conjure a Patronus. There's no need to worry."

Draco nodded and they continued in silence. "I'm still hungry," the blond commented as they were nearing their destination.

"We'll take care of that later, I think."

"I know. I was just informing you."

As they ascended the stairs, voices began floating down from the top. When they arrived, Draco immediately tensed upon seeing who was there. Crabbe and Goyle were standing stupidly by themselves. They were still Slytherin's beaters after being appointed in fifth year, so it must have been natural to ask them. Draco never hung out with them anymore, and as Harry thought about it, never spoke about them either. It made Harry wonder what sort of relationship the three had now that he, Harry and Draco had gotten together. Harry did not have to ponder on this for long, however, before he heard one of their grunting voices sneer at Draco.

"We knew you'd be here, Draco," Crabbe sneered at Draco. "You can't resist helping your _boyfriend_, can you?"

"Stupid faggots," Goyle put in.

Harry and Draco had their wands out in a flash, pointing at the two, large Slytherins. "If I recall, Gregory," Draco began in a mild voice, "your father has no problem fucking other men."

Crabbe and Goyle pulled their wands out just as Harry spotted another wand point out of the corner of his eye, pointing at the large Slytherins. Harry glanced over and made eye contact with Ron for a moment.

Ron grinned. "I've been waiting for an excuse to hex these two. They tried hexing Ginny a couple weeks ago," he whispered so that only Harry could hear.

"You're a liar," Goyle said fiercely to Draco, taking a step closer to him.

"Oh, I'm telling you every bit of the truth," Draco said calmly. "After all, I should know. Your father was one of the more brutal ones, I must say."

"Draco," Harry whispered, but Draco ignored him.

"What are you saying?" Goyle asked angrily.

"Exactly what your tiny brain just heard me say. Your father fucked me... hard."

Draco glanced at Harry for a moment and shook his head. Harry understood. He was lying about Goyle's father, but Harry still wanted Draco to stop doing this to himself. "If you two are planning on becoming Death Eaters, get used to the idea of fucking other boys. It happens often."

"You're probably just a slut," Goyle spit out.

Draco's and Harry's eyes flashed and they were both about to hex both Slytherins, but Professor McGonagall chose that moment to appear with Sirius and Remus on her heels.

"What is the meaning of this?" she demanded when she saw the five boys pointing their wands at each other. "Put your wands away this instant!" she ordered. "We are about to do something very dangerous and we cannot have you five squabbling like school boys."

"We are school boys," Ron pointed out.

"Mr. Weasley! That is quite enough. I am well aware that you are, but if you are willing to help today, then I highly suggest you act as an adult member of the community. Now, we will discuss your punishment later."

She turned to address the rest of the students. "Split into groups of four and then come to me for your duty."

Harry, Draco, and Ron were joined by Ginny, who explained that when too many seventh years could not be found, the sixth years were asked. They approached the Professor and were one of the few groups who were not going into the Greenhouses. They were to patrol the area and protect the people who were flying the students back to the castle. The four of them were very relieved to find out that Crabbe and Goyle were not able to find two other people to join them and so they were to send spells from the rooftop and make sure that the students were okay when they returned. Remus was staying with them so Harry felt much better about having them help at all. Sirius and McGonagall were flying school brooms out to the students in case some were experienced in flying by themselves.

The students were helping to rescue the trapped first years, watched from the tower as Sirius and McGonagall escorted the four students who had decent flying abilities. Remus quickly checked them over, and then ordered them to their dormitories. Since none of the creatures had made it into the Greenhouse, they were only a little shaken at being informed of the problem outside and walked calmly away, discussing this new revelation quietly amongst themselves.

When they were gone, the two seventh year Hufflepuff Quidditch players and two Ravenclaw players flew to the Greenhouse while Harry's group flew quickly to the ground. From above, the creatures looked like small spots moving across the ground, but as they neared, Harry could see a few lethifolds moving. He raised his wand, and thought of Draco and himself getting married in a few months. He felt himself become giddy with happiness.

"_Expecto Patronum!_" he shouted.

The silver stag erupted from the tip of his wand and galloped to the first lethifold that it saw. The creature glided away. "Go to that one!" Harry commanded his stag. The stag turned to where Harry had pointed and chased down the next lethifold. Harry did not see any more lethifolds after that, so let his stag fade away into a silver mist. The Gryffindor then looked to see where his group was and found Draco headed toward a smaller Acromantula to fight it himself. Harry groaned and flew after him. Ron and Ginny were near the blond, and had seemingly just defeated something particularly difficult as they were both huffing and quite red faced.

Draco threw a Stunning spell at the spider, and as Harry's experience knew that it would, bounced off of the spider, and Draco only just managed to roll out of the way in time. "Draco, we have to do it at the same time!" Harry called out.

"Okay. Let's knock it over first so that it has a hard time getting up when it wakes back up."

The boys flew to the side of the spider as it clicked its pincers angrily at them. They counted to three and then cried out, "_Diffindo!_" The spell blasted the smaller Acromantula onto its side as they had hoped. Harry flew nearer to the ground so that he was facing the spider's stomach and Draco flew higher, right above the spider's side.

Harry felt a cold chill enter his entire body and he could vaguely hear a girl screaming, but he blinked and the screaming stopped. He looked up at Draco, who nodded. "_Stupefy!_" they yelled in unison, and the spider stilled as the jets hit. The cold grew worse. There was a roaring sound in Harry's ears, and the screaming began again, only it was much louder this time. The Gryffindor felt his mind becoming fuzzy and confused as he struggled to remember what was doing this to him. He remembered only as a long-fingered hand clamped down on his shoulder and pulled him off his broom. The Firebolt XP stayed floating in the air as his feet hit the ground with a thud.

Harry lifted his wand as he felt his chin being lifted, and he closed his eyes, not wanting to see the horrible vision of a Dementor with its hood down. Rancid breath was blowing onto his face, and Harry's panic heightened considerably. _Draco and I are getting married,_ he tried to think through the haze in his mind, but it was too difficult through the screaming of his mother, the choked breaths of Lucius Malfoy, and the hysterical Draco as he remembered his most terrible memories.

_Draco and I are getting married,_ he thought more fiercely this time, but it was getting hard to remember what happiness was. "_Expecto Patronum_," he whimpered feebly. Harry could not be sure if anything had come from his wand, but he was positive that his stag had not made an appearance. Harry struggled against the firm hold the Dementor had on him, but it was too strong for him. His mind went blank from the world, other than the screams, pleas, and blood that clouded his mind, as he felt lips begin to attach around his own.

Suddenly, it all vanished and Harry was lying on the grass, panting, tears and sweat running down his face. He felt somebody lift him, but did not open his eyes to look. He was too afraid that it would be a Dementor, though he could not think of one good reason why a Dementor would handle him so gently, or even pick him up at all.

"Give him to me!" a voice commanded in a strained voice.

"Follow me up to the Tower, and you'll see how he is there," said the man who was holding him.

Harry vaguely felt himself rising up into the air, still in the man's arms. "Well..." stuttered the first voice, "is... Does he still have..." the voice trailed off.

"Harry?" the man asked.

Harry did not feel like responding. His mind was wonderfully free from the pain. He did not respond.

"Harry?" the man asked again, his voice beginning to panic. Harry felt like he should say something, but it seemed to be too much effort.

The Gryffindor was placed on a hard surface, and somebody began smoothing back his hair before placing a kiss on his forehead. "Harry?" the first voice said. "Please say something intelligent."

A large piece of food was stuffed into Harry's mouth. He let it melt and then swallowed it, beginning to feel a bit clearer as to what happened. The dark haired boy opened his eyes, seeing Draco bending over him on one side, and Remus, and Sirius on his other side. Sirius had a large block of chocolate, ready to be chipped away and fed to Harry.

"Say something intelligent," Draco demanded.

Harry suddenly clearly remembered the Dementor placing its lips around his own. The Gryffindor swallowed and looked at Sirius. "I think my soul is gone," he whispered. Much to Harry's surprise, Sirius broke into a grin and began to laugh maniacally. Draco pulled Harry up into a rough hug and laughed in relief.

"I told you to say something intelligent."

"It wasn't?" Harry questioned. "But... the Dementor..."

"Didn't Kiss you, you daft prick," Draco informed him, kissing him firmly on the temple. "People generally aren't able to form coherent speech after having their souls sucked from them. Hell, they aren't able to use their voices." Draco kissed the side of Harry's neck, and stayed with his face pressed against Harry's skin. "It was close though," he whispered. "So close."

Harry blinked a few times as he rested his chin on Draco's shoulder. Sirius looked to Remus with a questioning look on his face. "I thought he had been Kissed," Sirius whispered. "He wasn't responding."

"He was probably in shock," Remus whispered back. "Add the effects of Dementors on Harry... I think anybody's mind would have shut down momentarily."

Remus blinked as some more students were brought back from the Greenhouse and stood to help with them. Harry stared at Sirius until he looked back. "Where's Ron and Ginny?" he asked.

"They're still out there helping out. Remus and I sent out our Patronuses, and that sent the Dementors away. There were only three of them, but there will probably be more later. Here... take some more chocolate."

Harry took the chunk of chocolate offered by his godfather and pulled a little from Draco's tight embrace. Draco did not want to let go, however, and made Harry lean into his side. Harry did not protest as he leaned his head on Draco's shoulder from the sheer exhaustion that had taken over his body, and began to take small bites of his chocolate.

"May I go out and help again?" Harry asked of Sirius.

"No, not anymore," Sirius shook his head, to which Draco nodded his head sharply in agreement. "You're going to be too weak to help. Besides, we've almost got everybody out. I believe the last group is coming back now, and then Professor Sprout will fly back on the broom Professor McGonagall brought her."

"Is everybody all right?"

"Yes. Nobody was hurt. You have no need to worry about any of it."

"Do you need us anymore, Professor?" Draco asked Sirius, helping Harry to his feet. "If you don't, I'll take Harry to the Prefects meeting room to wait for the meeting to start."

"Sure. Go on and let Harry rest. I think we have it all covered," Sirius smiled.

Draco nodded his thanks, took Harry by the hand and left the tower.

"I don't really want to leave," Harry said petulantly.

"Too bad. You need to rest."

Harry considered pouting, but decided that he would leave that to Draco. When they arrived in the Prefects room, Hermione was going over some notes, highlighting facts with her wand. She looked up as they entered, and immediately stood up, looking concerned.

"Harry? You look peaky. What happened?"

"He was almost Kissed by a Dementor," Draco informed her grimly, unnecessarily leading Harry to a chair and guiding him down into it. Harry scowled at him, but he did not notice it.

"What?" Hermione gasped, horror struck.

"Yeah... Harry and I had just taken out an Acromantula. I had looked to see where Weasley and Weaslette were, and when I looked back, Harry had been pulled off his broom by the Dementor, and was trying to cast a Patronus, but only a mist came out." Draco's voice began to shake a little, but he was doing his best to keep it steady. "It was getting ready to kiss him. It even got his mouth over Harry's..." Draco let out a small breath. "If Black and Lupin hadn't..." He thread his fingers through Harry's hair as if to assure himself of Harry's continued existence.

"Oh, Harry," Hermione breathed. "I'm so glad you're okay." Her eyes glazed over as if in thought and then she rushed to her bag and began rummaging through it. "Ron gave me some chocolate frogs the other day," she mumbled under her breath.

Draco rolled his eyes. "How utterly romantic of him."

Hermione frowned at him, and then turned back to her bag. "I don't need any chocolate," Harry informed her. "Sirius gave me some."

"You know, Harry, you should really call him Professor, or Professor Black while you're in school."

"He's my godfather! I'll call him Professor when there are other students around."

"There _are_ other students around," she sighed as she gestured to the other Prefects around them. Ernie Macmillan was close to them and straining an ear to listen. Draco frowned disapprovingly at him. "Here they are!" She triumphantly brought out three chocolate frogs and handed them to her friend. "Eat them. I don't care if Professor Black already gave you some."

Harry sighed, opened one up, caught it as it jumped from its package and bit the head off. Draco pulled a chair next to Harry's and wrapped the darker boy in his arms, nuzzling his neck softly.

Hermione bit her lip to keep from smiling as Harry dropped his frog in his lap, wrapped his left arm around Draco's shoulders and nuzzled his nose into Draco's soft hair. "As cute as you two are," she coughed. "This is neither the time, nor the place."

"It's always the time to prep for a little snogging," Draco murmured against Harry's neck. The blond turned his head up and kissed his boyfriend. Harry whimpered appreciatively against Draco's mouth.

"Unfortunetely, Miss Granger is correct, Mister Malfoy," admonished a stern voice behind them.

The two boys broke apart to see Professor McGonagall and Professor Dumbledore striding into the room. Harry looked down and blushed. Draco turned his nose up. "Do not even think of retorting Mister Malfoy," McGonagall continued before he could say anything. "If you do, there will be a noticeable reduction in house points for Slytherin."

Draco looked down and grumbled to himself. Harry smiled slightly, intertwining their fingers, settling down for the meeting. Hermione summoned her books, papers and bag to herself, and sat on the other side of Harry. The Professors stood at the head of the table where Hermione and Draco usually stood.

The occupants of the room waited for the rest of the Prefects to turn up, and the room slowly grew in volume as more people arrived. When all seats were filled, the Headmaster cleared his throat.

"Good afternoon, Prefects," he began loudly. "As you all know, magical creatures of all kinds have come to Hogwarts today. Normally, this is taken as a special opportunity to teach the students, but these are quite different circumstances. There is no need for me to be evasive..."

Draco choked down a laugh and leaned into Harry. "If he's _telling_ us he's not going to be evasive for once, we're not going to have _any_ idea what the hell is going on."

Harry did not know if Dumbledore had heard Draco, but sent him a glare all the same when Hermione made a reproving sound in the back of her throat.

Dumbledore paused for a moment, but went on with no indication to if he had heard the Head Boy's comment. "These are extraordinary circumstances, and precautions will be made immediately. As of right now, no visitors will be allowed into Hogwarts, and all students and teachers are under house arrest."

The room erupted into mutterings about the indignity of it all. A few mentioned Quidditch, while others were worried that they would not be able to return home in a few weeks when the holidays began. Dumbledore held up a hand to quiet them. They eventually fell silent, while Harry, Draco, and Hermione exchanged nervous looks.

"I am sorry for the inconvenience to our normal lives here at Hogwarts. I am especially sorry to the seventh years who would like to end their final year as normally as possible, but I am afraid that that is looking impossible at the moment. Quidditch will once again be cancelled as I am sure you have all deduced, and if necessary, you will be held here for the summer holidays if we are not able to rectify the problem with the magical creatures before the end of term approaches. If it becomes apparent that this will be the case, we will then hold a meeting as to the summer rules. Are there any questions?"

Hannah Abbot cautiously raised her hand, and Dumbledore nodded at her. "Sir, I was wondering if you knew why the creatures have invaded the grounds like this?"

"I am afraid I do, Miss Abbot," Dumbledore nodded gravely. "It will not please any of you to hear it, but they are here for Lord Voldemort." A shudder went simultaneously throughout the room. "He has acquired means to control all magical creatures." Harry looked down at his lap, feeling guilt course through him like fire.

"Does... does this mean that _he_ will be coming soon to Hogwarts?" Hannah asked fearfully.

"It in no way means that," McGonagall said briskly. "You Know Who may not have any qualms with sending magical creatures to Hogwarts, but the one wizard that he has always feared is Professor Dumbledore. He would not be foolish enough to come here."

Dumbledore closed his eyes briefly, and if anybody had noticed, they had not noticed the tired look on his face. Harry did, and it made him worry. "Fear makes a person do irrational things, Professor McGonagall," Draco said quietly. "Besides, Voldemort will be seen as weak by his followers if he does not face one of his biggest fears. A week max... give him a week, and he'll be here."

"Mister Malfoy," McGonagall began harshly, but was cut off by Dumbledore.

"Minerva," he began quietly. "He is correct. I cannot say for sure that Voldemort will be here within a week, but Draco is correct about fear."

Harry felt the beginnings of panic with Draco's words. Harry had known for a few years now that his fight with Voldemort was inevitable, but now that could be so close, he was not sure he could handle it. He was not sure that he could defeat Voldemort. The Gryffindor began to breathe deeply through his nose as Dumbledore answered a few more questions and then dismissed the Prefects from the meeting. When Harry finally paid attention to what was going on, he found Draco speaking with Dumbledore about Voldemort coming to Hogwarts. Harry focused his attention on the conversation, but found his mind wandering back to what Draco had said about Voldemort not wanting to seem weak, and Harry spoke before he could think thoroughly on the matter.

"Voldemort is afraid of death. His main goal in life is immortality. Shouldn't he be seen as weak by his followers because of that?"

"Possibly," Dumbledore pondered for a few moments. "For some reason, Death Eaters do not see it as a weakness. They will see it as an accomplishment if Voldemort can truly obtain immortality. Besides, most humans are afraid of death, and so will not judge a person if that is one of their biggest fears." Harry looked to his lap once more and thought on this for a few moments before the Headmaster interrupted his train of thought. "Harry, I believe that you have had a rough afternoon. Why don't you go on up to your dormitory and try to rest."

Harry was about to protest, but his body suddenly felt weighed down from sheer exhaustion. It had been such a long day and it was not even three yet. Draco and Hermione followed him to the Gryffindor dormitories, though Hermione huffed the entire way about students not being allowed to enter other Common Rooms. The Slytherin ignored her indignant protests all the way up to Harry's dorm until he shut the door.

"That woman never shuts her nagging mouth," he sighed, slipping out of his robe. Harry followed suit and they climbed into his bed together and closed the curtains. "Harry," Draco purred suddenly after nearly ten minutes of silence.

"Hmm?"

"I'm feeling randy."

"You're always feeling randy," Harry smiled.

Draco waited expectantly for a few minutes, and then pouted when Harry still had not made a move. "I'm pouting here. Can't you see me?"

"No, it's dark."

"Well, I'm pouting."

Harry sighed, reached for his wand, and magically took Draco's trousers off, making the blond gasp in surprise. "How'd you do that?" Draco asked. "I've never heard of a spell like that... It's hot."

"Don't ask, don't tell," Harry murmured as he wrapped a hand around Draco.

Draco moaned appreciatively. "Harry, tell me."

"I can't when I have my mouth full."

"There's nothing in your... _Oh_."

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**A/N: **If you want to have notices of when I will be updating, sneak peeks at the next chapters to this fic (and others), please feel free to join my Yahoo! group. The link is on my author page, so just click on my name! It's an adult group, so please only those of age. 

Also, please review!


	18. The Beginning of the End

**A/N: **Thanks to those who continue to review! I really appreciate it. Also, thanks to my excellent beta, PadfootsBitch.

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**Remember You**  
_Chapter Eighteen_

The next week was admittedly one of the most stressful that Harry could ever remember. From studying for N.E.W.Ts, keeping guard of the hallways and doors, to making certain that nobody stepped out of the castle, Harry had his menu full, and could hardly spare one thought about anything that he truly desired to spend time doing. He wanted to concentrate on wedding plans, how Draco's therapy was going, and just Draco in general, but he was sorely disappointed every day when something new came up.

In addition to the stressful studying and worrying about the creatures outside the castle, the weather was unseasonably warm, making the castle suffocating. Most students stuck their heads longingly out the windows when the teachers were not looking, and when the teachers _were_ around, gazed just as longingly out the panes, wishing they could enjoy the weather by at least sticking their heads out the windows.

It was a depressing atmosphere, to say the least.

As Friday came to a close, Harry was heading for dinner with Ron and Hermione; he saw Draco pushing several students aside to get to his fiancé, a determined expression on his face. Harry felt his face glow in happiness when he spotted the Slytherin, as they had not been able to get alone time together since Tuesday. Harry had accompanied Draco to his Friday appointment earlier that afternoon, but Draco had been distant afterwards, rather than clingy. He had immediately taken his leave of Harry when they had arrived back to Hogwarts.

"Draco, are you busy tonight? I want to spend some time with you."

"Smashing," Draco said distractedly, grabbing Harry's hand and pulling him in the opposite direction of the Great Hall. "Weasley, Granger, you best come along as well!" Draco called over his shoulder.

"What's this all about?" Ron asked as they hurried to catch up. Draco was leading them up a set of side stairs to an upper floor.

"You'll see. I was doing homework in mine and Harry's classroom, and happened to look out the window, and saw something of interest."

"If you're talking about the magical creatures outside, Malfoy," Ron drawled out disdainfully.

"Of course, I am not!" Draco snapped irritably as they came up to the door to the classroom. "Snitches are delicious," Draco snapped again and the door flew open.

Harry raised an eyebrow as Draco yanked him inside. "Changed the password, have you?"

"Yes, what of it?"

"It's interesting," Harry smirked. "Have you been eating snitches lately?"

"Just one," Draco commented, letting go of him and heading toward a window. Ron and Hermione shrugged, clearly not wanting them to elaborate and followed the blond.

"What did you see?" Hermione asked, peering through the windows. "Oh, this is ridiculous!" she exclaimed after a few moments. "I'm sorry, but this stupid Quidditch game is coming off the windows for now." She waved her wand and it disappeared. Harry pouted, so Draco wrapped an arm around his waist and pulled him closer. "We'll put one up in our flat," he whispered into his ear. "Anyway," he said more loudly. "Look towards the Greenhouses. Do you see those trees and bushes in front of Greenhouse Two?"

"Yes," the three Gryffindors agreed in unison.

"Look closely to where the bushes meet up with the trunk of the tree. It's a head."

"A head?" Ron asked nervously.

Draco rolled his eyes. "It still has its body, and is very much alive."

"Who is it? Is it a student or a teacher?" Ron asked, squinting as he peered down. "Oh, yeah… I do see it. I think he or she has a hood on though."

"That's precisely the point, Weasley. Why would a student or teacher wear a hooded cloak or robes in this heat wave? They'd have to be bloody crazy."

"Well, then who—"Hermione began.

"Death Eater," Harry breathed.

"I'm glad somebody has brains in this room," Draco drawled, looking deliberately at Hermione, who huffed.

"It went through my mind just as Harry said it."

"Sure it did, Granger."

"Does Dumbledore or the Ministry know?" Ron asked.

"I'm not sure," Draco admitted. "I only noticed this guy about twenty minutes ago. There might be more that somebody was bound to notice."

"Maybe we should go tell somebody," Hermione suggested nervously.

As if in answer to her suggestion, the door banged open, admitting Sirius and Remus. "Hey!" Draco exclaimed indignantly. "How did you know the password?"

"Professors have passwords that override every password-guarded room in this castle," Sirius exclaimed briefly as he shut the door.

"What's going on?" Harry asked.

"Well, a situation has arisen, and students are being confined to Common Rooms until further notice," Sirius informed them. "Dinner is being served there, and when I noticed that you four were gone, I employed Remus to come along with me to find you. I figured this place was good as any to start."

"Let me guess, the situation that has arisen are the Death Eaters on the grounds," Draco said tonelessly.

"Very astute, Mr. Malfoy," Sirius said as if Draco had just answered a question correctly in class.

"Voldemort is on his way, isn't he?" Harry asked.

"We can't say that for sure, Harry," Remus said, sitting on the couch. "The fact that his supporters are here could mean many different things."

"But one of those things that it could mean is that Voldemort is coming," Hermione stated.

"Yes," Sirius said slowly. "I assure you that there is no need to worry as of yet. The situation is under control. More Aurors and members of the Order of the Phoenix are Flooing in right now into Dumbledore's office to help with the situation. We are by no means short of help."

"That doesn't help the fact that no matter how much help there is, Harry is still in danger," Draco growled low in his throat. "We all know that he is the one who is meant to kill Voldemort, or die by his hands."

Harry suddenly felt sick and sat on the bed. He had known this since the end of his fifth year, but it had not seemed to be as real as it did this very moment. Now that the time of confronting the Dark Lord was drawing near, the reality of the situation finally sank in… it was scary. Harry could not shake the horrible foreboding that it would be he who would die, not Voldemort.

Sirius moved forward when he noticed the distressed look on Harry's face. "It's true, I admit. But there is nothing that any of us can do about it, except support Harry, and help in any possible way we can." Sirius then turned to look at Harry. "Harry, you will have help. There will be countless people standing behind you."

Harry swallowed thickly and looked to his lap, nodding. He knew in his heart that he would have everybody he trusted and loved behind him, supporting him and helping to defeat Voldemort. This is precisely what scared him. What if one of them risked their life to keep Harry alive? Harry did not want this guilt hanging over his head. He wanted to do it all by himself, but he also knew that this was not possible. Help was going to be needed to conquer tonight.

"Yeah," Draco agreed. "Professor, if you even think of trying to keep me back from helping, then you're going to find yourself in a lot of pain when you wake up in the infirmary."

Ron and Hermione did not say anything but nodded their heads. Sirius and Remus bit their lips to keep from smiling at his youthful, loving determination. "You think I did not know that?" Sirius replied calmly, still biting back a smile. "I know you three will go to the ends of the world to do what you can for Harry. I know that he means a lot to you. He means a lot to me as well, and I know that I would willingly do anything for him, including risking my own life—"

"No!" Harry yelled out, shooting up from his seat. "I don't want anybody to risk their lives for me. I am not worth that! Why is it that everybody seems to think they need to get themselves killed for me? I am not that special!"

"You don't see what we see because you're you," Hermione whispered. "I'm sorry, but I would die for you in a heartbeat. I love you, Harry… We all love you. That's why we would die for you."

Harry bit his lip and looked to the floor, wanting to protest again, but knowing that everybody would argue with him. Without noticing her move, Hermione had approached him and wrapped her arms around his neck in a tight hug. He slowly returned the hug and buried his nose in her bushy hair. If anything, she squeezed him tighter, then pulled back and kissed his cheek. Sirius then pulled Harry into the furthest corner of the room, and placed his hands on the younger man's shoulders, looking sincerely into his eyes. "How do you feel about this?" Sirius asked, studying Harry's face.

Harry looked around at the other people in the room, shrugging. "I don't know yet. How would you feel if you knew that you either had to kill or be killed?"

"Nauseous," Sirius replied, smiling in apology.

"That about sums it up. I've already killed once. I don't know if I could do it again, even if it is Voldemort."

Sirius' brows rose up in surprise. "And who, may I ask, have you killed?"

Harry looked up at his godfather with wide eyes. "Dumbledore didn't tell you?" he whispered painfully.

"You're serious?" Sirius asked incredulously, "_You_, Harry Potter, have killed a man?"

"Don't be mad at me," Harry choked out fearfully. "I didn't mean to… Either he or Draco and I had to die. I had to, Sirius. It still makes me sick to think of it. I…" Harry had a sudden flashback to the image of Lucius leaning over him, dagger stuck through his neck, and Harry gagged.

"Harry, it's okay… I was just a little shocked. Who was it?"

Sirius blinked. "You're the one… Draco's… Harry, I don't know what to say."

Harry laughed humourlessly. "What _do_ you say when a person tells you that they killed their fiancé's father?"

"Well…" Sirius seemed to be in deep thought for a few moments. "For one, that it was obviously in self-defence, and you are not to blame for anything. For another, now this is war, and back at the Manor you and Draco were prisoners. You did what you had to do to survive. Besides, no matter whose father he was, he was still a terrible man, and deserved no less."

"That's the thing though. He was _Draco's_ father."

"I know," Sirius sighed. "Have you two talked about it?"

"No. Well, a little bit, yes. I had always been under the impression that Draco hated Lucius, but after I killed him… Draco seemed to be so heartbroken about it."

"No matter what, they were father and son. There was never any love lost between my parents and me… but when I heard of their deaths… I was a little sad as anybody would be. I suspect Draco mourned for Lucius as a father, and that was probably why he seemed heartbroken."

Harry nodded in understanding, glancing over to Draco, who was conversing in low tones with Remus on the couch. Remus looked up under their stares.

"Sirius, I think they should get to their Common Rooms now," Remus said.

"Yes, I suppose they should," Sirius sighed.

Harry locked eyes with Draco and felt apprehension grip him. "When will we be able to leave the Common Rooms?" Harry asked, still staring at Draco.

"We don't know," Sirius replied apologetically, sighed, ran a hand through his hair and looked to Remus. "I suppose," he began slowly, "that we could let you stay here for an hour to get some time together before you have to leave. I believe we'll be holding lessons in Common Rooms through the fireplaces if this mess isn't sorted out soon. Luckily, it's Friday… What do you think, Remus?"

"I don't see a problem with letting Harry and Draco stay here for an hour. We should probably guard the outside, just to be safe."

"With a well placed silencing charm," Draco added.

"On the contrary," Sirius raised a finger. "You'll just have to be quiet with whatever you say or do, because a silencing charm could be potentially dangerous in case any trouble comes to you in here."

"Fine," Draco pouted.

Ron and Hermione began to leave, and bid their goodbyes to everybody besides for Harry, whom they would see in the next hour or so. Remus went outside with them to wait for Sirius, so they could stand guard together. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do at your age," Sirius grinned and then left.

"So, we're free to do anything we please," Harry said gently, pulling Draco from the couch.

"Wicked," Draco grinned, but it turned into a frown. "Unfortunately, I don't feel like doing anything sexy with you when I know those two are just outside.

Harry agreed on this, so they spent the next hour, lying on the bed together, talking with a few kisses getting in the way at times. But as the hour came to a close, things became a bit more heated than they had been all night. Harry ran his hand lightly down Draco's hip, to his thigh and then stopped his hand's movement when he came to Draco's butt. Draco moaned appreciatively, and moved his body closer to Harry's, trying to get some friction. They stopped, however, when a loud knock sounded on the door.

"It's been an hour, boys!" called Remus' voice from outside.

"Ten more minutes!" Draco called back, as he rolled on top of Harry and ground their erections together. Harry moaned and grabbed Draco's hips, pulling him down more firmly, wishing that they could take their clothes off. Draco placed his lips on Harry's pulse point and sucked gently as Remus yelled back through the door.

"No, it has been an hour."

"Please let us get off on each other first," Draco called back, distractedly, to which Harry playfully punched him in the shoulder. Draco was not deterred however, and kept kissing and biting Harry's neck.

Two people coughed outside the door, and a mumbled voice was heard, then, "Fine…cough… finish up, then you're going back to your Common Rooms."

"Mmm," Draco moaned against Harry's neck, and jerked his hips down.

Minutes later, the two boys were pointing a cleansing charm into their trousers, and attempting to straighten their clothes out. They also tried to wipe the silly grins off their faces, but as soon as they opened the door to a clearly disapproving Remus, and a grinning Sirius, the grins re-appeared on the lovers' faces. Harry blushed and looked down. "Erm… thanks for the extra time," he muttered.

"Yes," Draco agreed emphatically. "It was good for me."

"So we heard," Sirius rolled his eyes. "You two are very loud."

Harry blushed even more, but Draco looked strangely proud. "Anyway," Remus started, "Draco, your hair is messed. You may want to fix it before we go to the dungeons."

"We?" Draco raised an eyebrow as he frantically flattened his hair.

"I'm escorting you, and Sirius is escorting Harry."

Draco squeezed Harry's hand and smiled. "I'll send Wally to you on Monday if we're still locked up, okay?"

"We aren't running a prison, Draco," Sirius frowned.

"Might as well be," the blond replied loftily, kissing Harry's cheek. "I'll see you."

Draco began to walk away, but Harry did not let go of his hand, so Draco turned halfway, looking at him in question. "What?"

Harry pulled his boyfriend to him, wrapping his arms around the smaller boy's waist, and burying his face in his neck. Bewildered, Draco wound his own arms around Harry's neck and nestled his nose into Harry's unruly mess of hair. Draco gently massaged the darker boy's scalp with his fingertips. "Something wrong, Harry?"

"Nothing," he mumbled in return.

"Okay." Draco kissed his head and pulled away. "We should go now. I think we've kept these two men waiting long enough."

"Yeah," Harry reluctantly agreed. "I love you," he whispered, giving Draco a small kiss.

"Ditto," Draco whispered, glancing at Sirius and Remus with blushing cheeks.

With last smiles for each other, they left in opposite directions for their respective Common Rooms. Sirius wrapped an arm around Harry's shoulders and pulled him close as they started the journey to Gryffindor Tower.

"How come I have a horrible feeling that this will be the last time I see him," Harry muttered, pushing a hand through his hair.

"Don't be ridiculous. You don't know what is going to happen."

"Exactly."

"Harry," Sirius sighed. "Please, stop this worrying. It will not do you any good for anything that is to come. I won't even attempt to sugar coat anything because I know you know the truth. People will die, people will be injured, but there is no point worrying about it. The witches and wizards going into the war know the consequences, but they know that their lives would be worth it, if they can help only a little."

"Yes, I know. I just can't help but to think that it might be I whom Voldemort kills, and not the other way around. I'm not exactly scared to die at this point, but… I'm worried about Draco. He's strong, but… I can't help but worry about what would happen to him if I did die."

"He'll be fine. There are enough people in this world who love and care for him enough to make sure that he is fine. Okay? I'll personally see to that if by some chance, you do die… Merlin forbid."

Harry nodded his head as they came upon the Fat Lady's portrait. Sirius murmured the password and she granted them access. Sirius stopped Harry for a moment and looked him in the eye. "Don't dwell on this. I know I can't tell you not to think about it at all, because that wouldn't be in your nature to avoid it. But just… try to do something that will keep you occupied."

"I think you're the one who needs to stop worrying so much," Harry chided gently, giving an impish smile.

Sirius chuckled and gave him a small push. "Get in there. I'll see you later."

"Goodnight, Sirius."

"Night, Harry."

The weekend passed slowly for all students in Hogwarts. None of the teachers had been to any of the Common Rooms to tell of the happenings outside on the grounds. This sent a small trickle of annoyance through Harry, and if this had been the only thing to not go his way that weekend, he would have been all right. As it was, the windows had been blacked out and locked to prevent anybody from looking outside. Most seventh years had conspired together and tried their own variations of unlocking charms, but all bounced off the window. The last spell sent students running up the staircases while it bounced around the Common Room until Hermione neutralised it with a clever spell of her own.

"I tell you," Ron sighed grumpily as they dressed on Monday morning, "this really bites the hippogriff in the arse. First, they lock us in our Common Rooms, and then they have the audacity to lock and black out our windows." Ron glared moodily at the black windows. "It's depressing. Why don't they just call this place Hogwarts Prison for Innocent Students of Witchcraft and Wizardry? I mean, how are we even going to have lessons today? They can't just call them off. We have N.E.W.T.s to take, and the fifth years have O.W.L.s! We all need to take those in order to do something when we get out of Hogwarts… _if_ we get out, that is," Ron added, once again moving his glare to the window.

"Sirius said something about holding classes through the fireplaces," Harry said, pulling on his socks.

Ron scoffed. "I'd rather they just let me go home to the Burrow if school isn't going to return to normal soon. Yeah, there are Death Eaters out there, but anything can't have happened yet. I mean, we would have known. The castle would have been shaking or something, you know? This is bloody ridiculous."

At that moment, Seamus opened his curtains with blurry eyes. He rubbed them sleepily as he squinted across the room at Ron and Harry. "Do you two mind?" he asked testily. "I figure we don't have classes today, so I'm trying to sleep in."

"Sorry, Seamu—" Harry was cut off when the door to their dormitory opened and Dean entered, fully dressed with a bit of egg trailing down his front.

"Morning, boys. Professor McGonagall appeared in the fire just now. She says she's coming up here."

All three boys let out a happy whoop and hurried down the stairs. Ron only had a sock on one foot, the other one dangling from his fingers. Seamus ran down the stairs, not bothering to pull a night robe over his pyjamas. When they arrived, the Common Room was becoming very crowded, and they had trouble finding a place to sit. Hermione was sitting in one of the comfortable chairs by the fireplace, a book propped on her knees, a piece of toast in her hand. She looked up when the four boys sat around her chair, as if waiting for her to begin telling them a story.

Hermione smiled, amused. "Yes? May I help you, boys?"

"May I sit on your lap?" Ron asked boldly.

Hermione seemed to consider for a moment. "No."

"May _I_ sit on your lap, Hermione?" Harry asked, grinning roguishly.

"Sure, Harry, hop on." She set her book aside and patted her lap in welcome. Ron's mouth was hanging open, and Harry's eyes were almost popping from his head. Harry recovered quickly, however, and sprang up from the floor and nestled comfortably in his friend's lap. Dean and Seamus laughed uproariously as Ron turned to stare at them in disbelief as if they could tell him what Hermione was doing. Harry winked at Ron and curled up like a ball on the girl's lap, planting the top of his head underneath Hermione's chin. Hermione laid her cheek down on his head and wrapped her arms around him like a very big teddy bear.

Harry smiled, suddenly feeling a bit sleepy, and removed his glasses. He closed his eyes for a few moments, but his contentment was cut short when he heard Colin Creevey join their group. "Oh, this would make a great picture!" the younger boy exclaimed. Harry opened his eyes and looked up at Colin through hooded eyelids, just as the boy snapped a picture. "And I think I'll get one of—" Flash! "Ron to show his reaction of the whole incident."

Harry felt Hermione chuckling in her chest, and he slowly began laughing as well, imagining the expression on his best friend's face. It only took a few more minutes for Professor McGonagall to show up, and when she did, Harry was still in Hermione's lap, dozing peacefully. Hermione poked him when their Head of House entered, and he put on his glasses again, but did not get up from his position, since Hermione did not seem to mind so much.

"Good morning, students."

A chorus of 'good mornings' was heard all around from the assembled Gryffindors. Ron did not give her a chance to speak. Sitting up on his knees, he said loudly, "When will we be let out of this prison?" The students as a whole apparently wanted to know as well, as they murmured their agreement.

"I am sorry, but not today, Mr. Weasley."

Ron sunk dejectedly back onto the floor.

"Students," McGonagall continued, "I understand your frustration, but we as teachers, and the Ministry are doing everything possible to get things back to normal. These restrictions are for the best right now."

"Why can't we just Floo home?" a third year girl asked.

"It is not the end of the term yet, and your parents are not expecting you home. Besides, the Muggle-born children would not have a means of getting home, since their homes are not connected to the Floo network. Please, save your questions for after I am done telling you the latest news. It has been decided that first through fourth, and sixth years will not have any lessons until you are allowed into the school proper. Fifth and seventh years will continue lessons through the fireplace, and if you are still here when the examination time arrives, you will be tested here, or possibly moved to another room in the castle."

McGonagall continued speaking for the next ten minutes, concerning things that everybody already knew. Harry wished that she would discuss something more important, like why they had to be confined to their Common Rooms when the danger was on the grounds with the creatures and Death Eaters. When the Professor finished her spiel, she approached Harry, who was still curled quite comfortably in Hermione's lap.

"Mr. Potter," she said briskly, brandishing a folded piece of parchment from inside her robes. "Mr. Malfoy tried to send this to you with an enchanted dragon, but it could not find a way into the Gryffindor dormitories. Professor Snape had me bring it to you. And _no_, Potter… I will not, under any means, become your personal owl. You will just have to deal with not writing back to Mr. Malfoy."

"Yes, Ma'am," Harry replied, sitting up and taking the note eagerly. "Thank you for delivering it to me."

"Ouch! Harry, your butt is bony!" Hermione complained and then pushed him unceremoniously off her lap. Harry glared reproachfully before darting up the boys' staircase to read his letter in private. He sat on his bed, pulled his hangings shut and muttered _"Lumos"_ under his breath so that he could see.

_Dear Harry,_

_How is life locked up in that infernal tower of yours? I can't imagine it would be that interesting. It is not very interesting here in the dungeons either, to tell you the truth. Without Blaise, this place seems undoubtedly dull. I never noticed it before because I have always made sure that I have something to do. It seems weird now that I don't._

_On a good note, Crabbe and Goyle are forming complete sentences now. They learned how to say, 'Draco likes to take it up the ass by any dick to come along.'_

_Charming, aren't they?_

_I didn't have my wand at the time, which was a pity. It made me want you with me even more, because I know you would have had your wand at the ready for me. Aww… Harry, you're so sweet. I'm rolling my eyes._

_Anyway, Severus has been here often to keep me company this weekend. He has told me a few things that have been going on. When they first spotted the Death Eaters on the grounds, they detected only four. Now, (I'm writing at approximately ten after __midnight__, early Monday morning), Severus said they detected thirty. That's why they aren't letting us out. The Common Rooms are the most protected rooms in the entire school. It takes some very powerful magic to get into them. If the teachers and the Ministry can keep the Eaters from getting too close to us, then we're fine._

_I also asked Severus why we couldn't use Floo to get out – not that it would do me any good to use it since I don't have a home. Apparently Dumbledore's Floo has been disabled, along with the entire 'out' system. We're not allowed to call or go anywhere. I think the Floo is still working to call other places in Hogwarts though. Everybody is virtually stuck here. One Auror tried flying out by night, but he was killed. Owls are being intercepted. Nobody is able to get in, and nobody out. There hasn't been anybody stupid enough to try since that Auror went and got himself killed._

_It's coming soon, Harry. I have asked Severus to come collect me when the time comes, so that I will see you and help you. I don't want to leave you alone. We're going out there together. On this note, I hope you're brushing up on duelling skills and spells. You're going to need it. In case you're especially dense, which I know you're not too bad (kidding. I'm only kidding. I've learned my lesson), Voldemort is a very good dueller. You'll need as much refreshing you can get._

_Oh, and don't let me forget to give you something for the battle. I'll want it back, of course, since it means a lot to me, but I know that it will help you greatly to have it. Well, I have to quit writing now so that I can go to bed before Crabbe and Goyle's snores become too loud and I'm not able to fall asleep at all. Besides, I want to be in the Common Room for when Severus arrives to inform us of everything._

_I hope you're doing all right up there. _

_Draco_

_P.S. We sure are being dense aren't we? I just woke up after having a dream… Pull out your parchment, Potter! How did we forget? I'll be waiting._

Harry's heart began drumming madly with excitement as he tripped over himself trying to get to his trunk. He withdrew the parchment, quill, and ink, before flinging himself back onto his bed, keeping his curtains open this time.

_Draco, we are a bit dense."_

Harry waited a few moments and felt a wide smile spread his face when he saw Draco's writing appear. _'Just a bit, Harry. We could have been talking to each other all weekend. I'm truly ashamed of myself.'_

_Me too._

_'Have you been brushing up on fighting tactics?'_

_No, I didn't really think of it, to tell you the truth. Besides, I figure with all the extra studying I've done, it'll be the best I can do, you know?_

_'Harry… I don't know why I'm marrying a git like you sometimes.'_

_Harry grinned, biting the end of his quill as he pondered what to write next. _

_Probably because you love me to pieces._

_'Itty-bitty pieces. Did McGonagall come to speak to Gryffindor this morning?'_

_Yes. She didn't tell us much of anything though. I wish Sirius had come to visit me this weekend._

_'I hear he's busy, but Sev doesn't even know what he's doing.'_

_Yeah, I figu…_

Harry was startled from writing as the dormitory door flew open, emitting Sirius, Ron, Hermione, and Remus. He did not notice that he had blotched the parchment pretty badly, or that Draco had written, _'Harry? Are you okay?'_

"What's going on?" Harry asked, standing, looking worriedly at Ron, who was deathly pale, his freckles standing out sharply against the white. Hermione was shaking, but determined, and Sirius and Remus were almost regretful with the way they looked at Harry.

"Voldemort is here," Hermione whispered.

Harry felt his blood run cold and his knees buckled. He flopped on his back onto the bed, eyes staring unseeingly at Draco's now frantic questions. "How do you know?" Harry asked.

"He has begun taking down the wards surrounding Hogwarts, one by one. They are connected to Dumbledore, and as such, can feel them coming down. We need to act," Sirius said, moving to help Harry stand. "Do you have your wand? Harry nodded. "Good. Take your outer robe off. It's only going to get in the way… same with your tie. I don't know why you bothered putting your uniform on."

"I was hoping for a bit of normalcy."

When Harry was moving too slowly for Sirius's tastes, Sirius began rushing him by taking the tie off, and even pulling the jumper over Harry's head, leaving him in a white button up collar shirt and trousers. "You're good to go. Come on."

Harry was pulled from Gryffindor Tower in a daze. He hardly noticed that the bulk of the seventh years were hot on their tale, with most of the sixth years trying to follow as well, but Remus kept them at bay. When the herd of Gryffindors arrived in the Entrance Hall, Harry noticed Snape, but did not see Draco.

"Where's Draco?" Harry demanded loudly. "He wants to be here."

"I thought it best for him to stay behind," Snape said.

"Why?" Harry demanded, rounding on the Potions professor. "We could use him. He's a powerful wizard, and more to the point, he _wants_ to be here."

"I will not allow it," Snape said dismissively.

"He's an adult. He can decide whatever he wants!" Harry irately exclaimed. "I'm going to get him. What's the password?"

Snape snorted. "I have no inclination to tell you what the password is, Potter."

"Fine. I'll break down the entrance, but I'm getting him."

Harry all but ran into the dungeons, towards the Slytherin entrance. He could hear footsteps following behind him, but he did not care. Draco wanted to be there for this, and besides, Harry had finally realised that he had not written to Draco about what was going on. But before Harry even arrived at the Slytherin entrance, somebody came running from that direction, and they nearly collided, but Harry stepped towards the wall to avoid it.

"Harry!"

Harry looked back to see that it was Draco with whom he had nearly collided. "Draco… how in Merlin's name did you get out of your Common Room?"

"Severus told me the password to get out."

Harry gave him a doubtful look. Draco held up his hands. "Okay, so I cast an eavesdropping charm on him before he left the Common Room on Saturday morning."

"You're a Slytherin to the core."

"Thanks. Harry… I thought you were injured or dead when you didn't answer me."

"I'm sorry. Sirius, Remus, Ron, and Hermione came into the dormitory and scared the hell out of me."

"What's going on?"

There was no point in stalling. "Voldemort is here."

Draco's face paled to a whiter shade than what it normally was, but he swallowed stoically. "Then I'm glad I brought this."

The blond reached around his side and pulled something from a carrier that was attached to his belt. When Harry saw what Draco wanted to give him for the battle, he had to physically fight back nausea. It was the dagger that Harry had used to killed Lucius Malfoy.

"I know you don't like it," Draco began quickly, "but you need to use it, or at least carry it."

Harry hung his head. "Fine. I'll carry it if you really want me to."

"I do."

They both made eye contact. Draco blushed at his choice of words, but Harry smiled and pulled him into an embrace. "You're beautiful," he whispered, stroking Draco's flushed cheek. "And I missed you." They kissed for a few moments before they pulled back and Draco attached the dagger's carrier to Harry's belt.

"Draco," spoke a stern voice from behind them.

They both spun around to face Snape, who had followed Harry. "How did you get out of the Common Room?" Snape asked.

"I figured out the password," Draco said dismissively. "Besides, you can't expect me to stay in there when Voldemort is here. That sorry excuse of a wizard is after _my_ Harry's blood, has caused me more pain than I care to admit, and I _will_ see him die."

Snape's face was set as if he were ready to deny Draco access to the coming battle. Harry grabbed the blonde's hand, ready to protest the Potion Master's decision, but Snape gave an almost imperceptible nod. Draco's face broke into a grin.

"You do know that you could have never stopped me, right, Sev?" he asked as they started for the Great Hall. "I would have gone out there no matter what."

"I know that," Snape admitted. "And Draco, for Merlin's sake, _quit_ calling me 'Sev'. You know how I detest it."

"That's why I do it," Draco replied solemnly.

A few minutes later, they arrived in the Great Hall. Aurors and members of the Order of the Phoenix were assembling in the Hall, waiting for a sign to begin. The men and women were mingling between the Great Hall and the Entrance Hall. Harry stuck close to Draco, all the while on the lookout for the Gryffindors who had followed him from the Common Room. Draco pointed them out by the Head table a few minutes later, and the three men approached them. Among the group of Gryffindor students were Sirius and Remus. Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas were talking to Sirius and Remus. Hermione and Ron smiled nervously at Harry when he approached.

"Hey, Draco," Hermione greeted amicably, "good to see that Professor Snape let you join us."

"Hello, Granger. It wasn't up to him whether I came or not," Draco replied, and then surprised everybody by giving the girl a warm hug. Hermione stiffened in shock, but slowly returned the hug, a pleasured smile crossing her face as she did so. Harry knew that his mouth was open slightly, but did not bother to close it. Draco looked around at everybody assembled near. "What?" he shrugged. "You try being locked up with people who don't like you, and then finally be released to people who actually enjoy or want your company."

"I knew you were beginning to like them," Harry smiled.

Draco glared slightly, but then shrugged. "Granger is all right, even if she is an insufferable know-it-all, and has bushy hair." Harry glared. "And Weasley… well, there isn't much to be said about him, really," Draco finished, looking Ron up and down with a critical eye. Ron began to turn red with suppressed anger. Remus, seeing trouble begin to arise, stepped in.

"Boys, we do not need any fighting within our forces today, wouldn't you agree?"

"Sorry, Remus," Draco mumbled.

"It's quite all right," Remus said lightly. "I would advise to forget everything right now and concentrate on what we are about to do. Professor Dumbledore is gathering all of the Order and the Ministry who are here, and then I expect that we will head –"

Suddenly, the castle shook violently as if in an earthquake, cutting off Remus' explanation. Dust crumbled from the walls and the ceiling, and a few sconces fell off the wall where it had cracked.

"The wards are completely down," Snape said, staring around. "It looks like we're heading out earlier than Albus had anticipated."

As if solidifying this thought in everybody's mind, the castle shook violently again, and before the tremor had quit, the wall with the fireplace burst open in a whirlwind of light, rocks, and dust. Draco grabbed Harry and pulled him to the floor as rocks went soaring past their heads. Harry looked over to see if Ron and Hermione had done the same, and saw that they had. Screams echoed in the Hall as people were hit with the debris. From their vantage point, it looked as though at least fifteen witches and wizards had fallen. Whether they were alive or dead could not be determined until they were examined from a closer perspective.

Death Eaters and a few smaller Acromantula began pouring into the Great Hall. While the Dark wizards held their own against the Aurors and Order members, the Acromantula were taken out instantly, stopping any forthcoming whimpers from Ron, who had just opened his mouth to say something, but let out a breath of relief when they were killed.

Stunned from the sudden start to the battle, Harry lay next to Draco and Snape for a few moments, until Draco began to pull him to his feet. "Come on," Draco whispered. "We need to help."

Harry nodded. Sirius looked at his students and godson frantically, before motioning them into the side chamber. When they were encased inside, Sirius laid a hand on Harry's shoulder, but spoke to all of them, which included Parvati Patil, Ron, Hermione, Draco, Seamus, Dean, Ginny, Colin, and a few other non-Gryffindor sixth years that Harry did not know.

"I want you all to stick together and back up one another. We can't afford to lose any of you. If you see somebody in trouble, help them out, got it?"

The group nodded their heads as the castle began to shake again. "Another thing… be careful."

The group began moving out into the Great Hall again, but Harry stayed behind a moment, grabbing onto Sirius's arm. "You be careful as well, Sirius," he whispered. "I don't want to lose you."

Sirius smiled tightly. "You won't. Let's go."

Harry nodded and hurried out to his group. They were casting stunning spells towards Death Eaters who had not noticed their appearance yet. When Harry moved past them right into the fray, the rest followed and surrounded him like a shield of honour. Harry was thankful that they were mindful enough to leave him room to cast spells and breathe.

It seemed that the Order and the Aurors were successful in pushing the Dark wizards from the castle, and the battle was slowly moving outside. Colin and Ginny had been accidentally rushed out of the castle with a herd of Aurors. Harry tried to follow them at first, but saw a Death Eater cast Cruciatus at Parvati. He quickly stepped in front of her. "_Protego!_"

"Thanks," Parvati puffed out as she stood up from doing a somersault. Another Death Eater had been attempting to stun her as Harry protected her and she had only escaped being hit by performing simple gymnastics.

"_Stupefy_!" she cried out, and hit the same Death Eater who had tried stunning her. She then summoned the wizard's wand to her, broke it in half, and cast another spell at him that Harry did not quite catch. The wizard rose into the air, hood falling away from his face to reveal the white mask beneath. Parvati directed him toward the wall above the High table and stuck him to the wall. Hermione happened to see her do this and used these spells while smiling slightly.

"Good idea, Parvati," Hermione called as she snapped a wand.

"_Stupefy_!" Harry called out to the Death Eater who had tried the Cruciatus.

"_Protego! Crucio!_" the wizard called back in quick succession. It took Harry by surprise and he was hit with the Unforgivable. Harry fell to the ground, feeling knives cut into his nerves, jackhammers pounding his head… it was the worse pain imaginable. The pain only lasted for a few moments, but it felt like hours to Harry. He panted as the curse lifted, and slowly lifted his head. Draco was standing a step ahead of him to his left, pointing his own wand at the Death Eater, a look of utter disgust and fury etched across his face.

"Draco!" Hermione and Parvati gasped out in horror, and only then did Harry realise that Draco was casting the Cruciatus curse onto the man.

"Draco," Harry whispered getting to his feet. "No Unforgivables."

"I'm giving what he deserves," Draco spat.

Harry pointed his wand at the writhing mess on the floor. "_Stupefy. Expelliarmus._" His wand flew to Harry, who broke it in half, and stuck him to the wall like the five other Death Eaters who were just waking up to find themselves stuck with no way down.

"Harry," Draco growled.

"Not the time nor the place to get angry with me!" Harry shouted, as two more Death Eaters entered the Great Hall through the hole in the wall. Hermione and Ron quickly stunned and sent them to the wall like the others, and then their group hurried outside to help the rest of the Light. Harry quickly scanned the sunbathed grounds and saw Sirius and Remus about thirty feet away, contending with four Death Eaters by themselves. Harry saw Sirius take a hit, and was about to run to help when a cry startled him back to his own group. The Gryffindor spun around and saw that a Death Eater had Parvati and Draco in a choke hold.

"Cover me, Ron and Hermione," Harry said in a low voice.

"We will too," said Ginny as she came panting up to them with Colin. Ginny was sporting a large cut across her cheek and Colin was missing a chunk of hair, with blood running from where it had been pulled out, but otherwise looked fine. Harry nodded to show acknowledgement, but did not take his eyes off the faceless man in front of him.

"Let them go," he hissed.

"You for them," the Death Eater growled.

"Don't do it, Harry," Draco said furiously. "We need you."

The Death Eater tightened his grip on Draco's neck, and the blond immediately stopped talking.

Harry glanced at Hermione and they made eye contact. She nodded as if he had spoken and moved closer to Ginny and whispered in her ear. "So, if I come with you, where are we going?" Harry asked, keeping his wand focused on him.

"To the Dark Lord."

"Right… and I should agree to that because…"

"Because he can offer you things beyond your wildest dreams, Potter. Have you ever wanted back your parents? Have you ever wanted siblings? He can give those things to you if you go to him and offer allegiance."

Harry felt his eyes roll. "He's still on about that, is he? Figures. That man can never let things go, can he? Well, you can tell him to go stuff it, because I've already had my parents this year, as well as some siblings and all it brought me was trouble, and a lot of confusion. I'm sure you could use that small brain of yours to imagine what went through my mind at some points."

At that moment, Ginny clobbered the Death Eater over the head with a summoned chunk of wood. His grip loosened on Draco and Parvati and he sunk the ground. The two students rubbed their necks and cast the stunning spell on him at the same moment. Draco then sent him towards the castle wall rather carelessly, and the Death Eater crashed into it with alarming force. Harry heard a distinct crack before the body fell to ground with a sickening thud. Harry swallowed, looking at Draco in disbelief.

"What?" Draco asked resentfully when he saw Harry's look. Draco sent a Patronus at a Lethifold that was coming for them. Harry vaguely noticed that it was in the shape of a unicorn.

"No loss anyway," Draco shrugged, helping Hermione and Ron take out an Acromantula. "That was Crabbe's father."

Harry swallowed, more than a little upset at Draco's behaviour, but did not dwell on it as three more Death Eaters bore down on them.

The battle went well past sunset. As far as Harry could tell, no side had an advantage. It was rather hard to tell whose side had lost more people. Bodies were strewn on the ground in bloody disarray, as some Death Eaters had taken out knives and had begun slicing people. Harry had not dared take out Draco's dagger, so had stuck to his wand. So far, everybody in their small group of students had made it, except for Colin, who had been severely injured by a Death Eater, and they were forced to leave him in some bushes, with the beckoning signal that only Healers could see. The only reason they knew of this signal was because they had run into Sirius when getting Colin to a safer spot. Sirius was bleeding copiously from an injury on the head, and seemed a bit dizzy as he cast the spell and staggered off again, saying almost drunkenly that they could leave Colin somewhere and continue fighting.

They could not go back into the school anymore for fear of getting backed into a corner by Death Eaters or creatures. They had infiltrated the castle; periodic rumblings shook the ground as they tried to break into certain parts of the building.

At one point in the evening, Harry guessed it to be sometime after nine, their group stole into the Forbidden Forest, running in about ten metres before dropping down to the ground in exhaustion. Both Ron and Draco were now bleeding in various places; Hermione had gashes on her left cheek along with some bruises. Parvati was whimpering as Hermione treated a sprained ankle, and Harry was mending his glasses for the third time. He had a few gashes near his eyes where his lenses had cut into his flesh when they had broken. Harry had also taken the Cruciatus curse one more time along with Ron and Draco, so was feeling quite weak. Ginny was fussing over Ron, but had no new injuries that Harry could see.

"We can't stay here long," Draco gasped as he attempted to catch his breath. "Something is bound to come after us soon, creature or person. You all right, Harry?"

"Yeah," Harry smiled unconvincingly. He tried to meet Draco's eyes, but found that he could not. Harry tried not to think that Draco had now killed five people with little to no remorse.

Draco did not notice Harry's discomfort. "Are you four almost ready to go back out?" he asked the rest, who were still mending injuries.

"Almost," Hermione said, still bent over Parvati's ankle. "I've never healed a sprained ankle before."

"Well, hurry up."

Harry tried to concentrate on Hermione, and ignore the fact that Draco was studying him. His concentration was broken however, when he saw something flying at him. He blinked, too stunned to do anything. It was glowing a brilliant white, and when it stopped right in front of Harry's face, he saw that it was an envelope with his name glowing in black on it.

"Don't touch it!" Draco shouted just as Harry reached out, but it was too late. As Harry sent Draco a perplexed look, he felt a jerk behind his navel and he was pulled forward, and then was deposited on a patch of grass by the lake, on the side furthest from Hogwarts. Harry coughed and looked up into the snake-like face, and the cold, blood-red eyes of Lord Voldemort.

Voldemort's eyes seemed to glow in triumph as a small smirk crossed his face. "I have been waiting all night for you, Mr. Potter."

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Please review! An author always likes to hear how she's doing. :)

As the title of the chapter states, this chapter is the beginning of the end. There are four more chapters plus an epilogue. I plan to be done posting this fic by the beginning of May, hopefully before May even comes. But, if you would like to know specifically when I am going to update, and would like to read teasers from upcoming chapters, please feel free to join my Yahoo! group. The link is on my author page here.


	19. Voldemort

**A/N:** Huge thanks to my beta and to those who continue to read and review.Other than that, I have nothing so important to say that it can't wait until the end of the chapter.

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**Remember You**  
_Chapter Nineteen_

_"Don't touch it!" Draco shouted just as Harry reached out, but it was too late. As Harry sent Draco a perplexed look, he felt a jerk behind his navel and he was pulled forward, and then was deposited on a patch of grass by the lake, on the furthest side from Hogwarts. Harry coughed and looked up, into the snake-like face, and cold, blood-red eyes of Lord Voldemort. _

Voldemort's eyes seemed to glow in triumph as a small smirk crossed his face. "I have been waiting all night for you, Harry Potter."

"I'm sure you have," Harry muttered dryly, beginning to climb to his feet.

Voldemort let out a humourless chuckle and began pacing the small space around him. "That is what I enjoy most about you, Potter. You are not intimidated by me at all, are you?"

Harry raised an eyebrow and stared him in the eye. "I am intimidated by you," he confessed. "But you have one thing wrong. Generally, witches and wizards as a whole, whether they are your followers or not, are not intimidated by you, they are scared of you. And I… am not scared of you, Voldemort, nor will I ever be."

Voldemort had stopped pacing during Harry's short speech, and was now looking down on the younger man appraisingly. "Indeed," he said at last. "There has never been anybody so presumptuous as to address me by that name to my face."

Harry sighed. "Is there something you wanted, or may I be allowed to leave to help my friends?"

The Dark Lord's red eyes flashed angrily and he stepped closer to Harry. "Yes," he hissed, "there is a point to my summoning you here."

Harry felt himself shaking slightly, but attempted to quell it. He could remember the previous year when he had been next to fearless when standing next to this wizard, but now he could feel his blood pumping frantically in his chest. Harry almost wished for that fearlessness right now, but knew that if he did have it, he would most likely still be under Voldemort's influence. Harry drew on his courage and puffed his chest up slightly. "Well? What do you want?"

"Potter," Voldemort spat, but then stepped back as if remembering something, and then began in a calmer voice. "Harry, you know what I want."

"You want me to join you."

"If that is not too much to request, yes."

"It is," Harry answered shortly. "And don't even think about trying to persuade me otherwise," he said a bit irritably. Harry let his eyes wander around the area. Trees were surrounding them in every direction, and there was only a small opening which led to the lake. The grass ended a few feet from Harry, and the water was lapping tranquilly against the rocky shore. Directly behind Voldemort, Harry noticed a small revolving circle of light hovering at his head level. Harry squinted at the object as it was glowing brighter the longer he stared.

"What is that?" he finally inquired.

Voldemort looked around slowly and studied the shimmering crimson light. "Ah, I would have thought that you would recognise this for what it is, Harry. Let me demonstrate." The Dark Lord lifted a long, skinny finger and put it into the illumination as if pressing something. "Come to me, oh faithful servants of Darkness. Come to me, oh whisperer of misery. Come to me, oh source of bane. Come to me, your Master, and show your authenticity."

Harry waited with bated breath for something to happen as Voldemort ended his odd chant. Voldemort turned back to him, finger still in the circle of light. "I have only summoned two, just to give you a taste of what I am able to do."

Slow, dawning comprehension fell over Harry as he continued to stare at the red light. "That's the Orb, isn't it?"

"Very good, Harry," the other wizard replied as if proud of a five-year-old for finally grasping the concept of tying his shoelaces.

"What did you just call?" Harry asked apprehensively.

"Patience."

A few moments of tense silence passed, when finally, Harry could hear a low, quiet hissing, even as he started to feel intensely cold. A Dementor, towering above them, glided through the trees and stopped in front of Voldemort. Harry stepped back a few steps, feeling his brain begin to fog. A low hissing stole his attention, and Harry whipped his head around to see a three-headed snake, that was at least five feet long emerging from the nearby bushes. The heads seemed to be fighting with each other, but they stopped once they spotted Harry. Voldemort had spotted the Runespoor as well and hissed for it to approach him. It dutifully obeyed the command, heads bickering with each other all the while. The Dark Lord turned to the Dementor.

"You will not harm Harry Potter for the time being," he said lowly. "But show him your power."

The Dementor glided towards Harry, who stumbled back a few feet, forgetting his wand that was still clutched tightly in his hand. The Dementor came and towered over him, reaching out a finger and smoothing it over Harry's cheek. Screams were echoing in Harry's head, and he hardly noticed when he fell to the ground, or when Voldemort commanded the Dementor to leave. When the fog lifted from his mind, Harry slowly lifted his head, panting and glaring at Voldemort, who was staring at him, amused.

"Impressive, no?" he asked, idly twirling his wand between his long spindly fingers. Voldemort then hissed a few words to the Runespoor, who hissed menacingly and slithered away.

"That was hardly impressive," Harry scoffed, his head spinning with the information hissed at the snake. Voldemort had just ordered the snake to attack Sirius Black. "Everybody knows you're a Parselmouth. Why wouldn't you be able to command a snake?"

"I did not call the Runespoor for my entertainment. I had a mission for him, as I am sure you heard. She is just about to carry out a task that should have been done a year ago."

"Sirius never did anything to deserve death!" Harry bellowed, getting to his feet. "All he did was fight the Imperius, which anybody would do!"

"That is not the point, foolish boy. I will not waste my time on explaining to you what is and is not the point."

"Well, I think you should if you want me on your right side."

"So, you are considering it?" the older wizard asked, raising an imperious eyebrow.

"Not really, no."

"Then you are wasting my time, and I shall have to dispose of you."

Harry thought frantically. He could either try to make a run for it, cast his own spell and run the chance of Voldemort casting _Priori Incantatem_, pull his dagger out and stab Voldemort with it, or try to distract him. Harry dismissed the first two as Voldemort would catch him before he ran two feet. And Harry was not close enough to surprise Voldemort with a dagger. He would see it and disarm Harry before he had chance to do anything. Voldemort was raising his wand to Harry as if in slow motion. He cast his mind around for something to say.

"Wait! Tell me… tell me about the Orb and why my parents were around, as well as Austin and Sierra. Then… then I'll… I'll think about joining you." Harry mentally groaned, congratulating himself on a job well failed.

"Simple as that, Harry, are you sure?"

Harry hesitated but then nodded his head firmly. "Yes, simple as that."

Voldemort considered Harry for a moment. "We will see. I will tell you about this Orb, and its extraordinary powers, but I am not so certain that you will join me. It all seems to be a bit forced, would you not agree, Harry?"

"I don't think it's forced at all. I'm telling the truth. If you tell me about the Orb, and my so-called family, I will seriously consider joining you, no questions asked. My loyalty would be to you."

Voldemort seemed to like the sincerity in Harry's voice and eyes. He nodded, turning around and once again sticking his finger in the red glow behind him. When he was turned, Harry heard a voice behind him, hissing his name angrily. Harry turned and saw Draco's face sticking out of a nearby bush.

"Harry! What the _hell_ are you doing?"

Harry glanced back at Voldemort, seeing that he was chanting something, and turned back. "I… I don't know to tell you the truth, but it will all work out. Trust me, okay?"

"Harry, if you join him again…"

Draco left the rest of his sentence open, but Harry took it as the threat it was and nodded. "I know. I would never join him."

Draco nodded reluctantly. "I'll stay right here for you, okay?" He then motioned for Harry to turn back around. No sooner had Harry turned his head that Voldemort turned to look at him, smirking slightly.

"You might enjoy this, Harry." Voldemort pointed to the glowing Orb with his index finger and beckoned something to him. The red light shone brighter than ever before, making Harry squint against it. And as he watched, four figures tumbled from it in a heap. The light faded to its original glow, and Harry saw the distinct forms of James, Lily, Austin, and Sierra scrambling to stand up. When Lily laid eyes on Harry, she smiled softly and began to move forward, arms outstretched in welcome.

Harry stumbled backwards a few steps, eyes wide. "Don't come near me," he whispered. "You're not my mother. My mother is dead."

Lily stopped mid-stride, looking distinctly hurt. "Harry? What are you talking about? I'm right here."

"No," Harry shook his head sharply. "Get away from me."

Voldemort made a sweeping motion with his arm, and Lily was pushed back by her husband and two other children, who, along with Lily, were all looking quite confused. "You want to understand who these people are, Harry?" Voldemort asked, looking noticeably amused. "They are your parents, Lily and James Potter. These children…" Voldemort moved and placed a hand on Austin and Sierra's shoulders, who flinched, "are in fact, your brother and sister."

"But that isn't possible," Harry insisted. "I'm an only child, and an orphan… which _you_ should know well."

"True," Voldemort nodded, scratching his chin. "Very logical point to make, young Potter, I admit. There is one problem with that though. Have you ever been taught of the multiple worlds that exist, Harry? No… why should I even ask. Of course, Hogwarts does not teach you of such things; for anything that could get you into contact with these worlds would be considered Dark Arts, would it not?" The Dark Lord stopped and examined Harry's perplexed face for a moment before walking dangerously close to Draco's hiding spot, and then walking back to Harry.

"I don't understand," Harry said slowly.

"Ah, but I knew you would not. That is the splendour of it all. Nobody would suspect, nor understand if it was brought to light. It is a concept that has been long forgotten, but not by me. You see, Harry, years ago, before you were even born, I began to research alternate universes as they are sometimes termed. I learned a great deal about them. I learned that there are thousands upon thousands of dimensions, each one different from the next, no matter how minute the detail. In fact, there are some dimensions that are so much alike, that you could search each one for a lifetime and never quite discern where it is different. In my research, I realized that I wanted to find a dimension that was as different as night and day."

"Why was that?" Harry asked curiously.

"To gain more power, of course," Voldemort said naturally. "You see, Harry, before I met you on Halloween, I was at the height of my power. I knew, and still do know more than any wizard has known for centuries. Nobody could see how I could become more powerful than by actually becoming immortal. I was well on my way before you interfered with my plans, believe me. But I knew that once I achieved that goal, I would have to prove myself again. I would have to make people believe how powerful I was by gaining more power. Do you understand where I am going, young Potter?"

"I… not really, no."

"You see, when I realised that I would have to prove myself over and over again, is when I began my research on multiple dimensions. I knew that the key to more power was I."

Harry blinked. "What?"

Voldemort seemed to be getting annoyed by Harry's endless stupid questions, but took a small breath and continued in tightly controlled tones. "To put it in terms you would understand, Potter… the merging of two souls. It would work essentially with any wizard I chose, but to merge with myself from a different universe… I would be able to double my power. I set out to find a universe where I had not met my downfall by a child, and a year after I began, I found it. I found a dimension where the prophecy had never been given. James and Lily Potter were still alive. You did not have a scar on your forehead, and Austin and Sierra existed. But more importantly, my counterpart was there, alive and strong. It was exactly what I had hoped for because he was even closer to his goal of immortality than I was at the time."

"So, I'm guessing you managed to travel to the other dimension by this Orb, or something?"

"Fool child. A person cannot travel freely through the different dimensions. It is like travelling through space. It is too vast. By the time you get back to your dimension, everybody that you knew will have died, and you would not have aged a day."

"Then how—"

"How did I expect to merge with my counterpart? The idea was simple enough, as you can assume, and I can tell you that it was this: to merge the two dimensions. My goal was, and still is, to make our dimensions become one. To do this, I needed to manipulate something, and this something of course, ended up being the Orb. There was just one thing that I had not accounted for. There is almost always a catch to all powerful magic, Light or Dark, and unfortunately, I needed to use more Light than Dark magic in the process of bringing the dimensions together.

"You can imagine that I was quite distressed when I realised that I could not activate the process. I needed somebody who had lost something in their dimension and wanted it back with their entire soul, because they… _loved_ it so much that they would do almost anything to get it back. At the time, I did not know anybody who fit that description, but it did not matter after Dumbledore's followers stole the Orb from me and sent it to be watched by the old fool.

"As it turned out, however, it was a blessing in disguise. Not that long after it was taken, I met you for the first time and had a set back of fourteen years. Three years after my return, I find out that the Orb was, ironically, in your care. I thought it was appropriate, and hoped that somehow, you had activated the process to merge our dimensions."

"And I did, didn't I?" Harry whispered.

Voldemort smirked slightly. "Yes, Harry, you did. You were the key I needed. You had lost your parents and any chance at having siblings before you even had memory. If I recall, you encountered the Mirror of Erised in your first year, and if I am not mistaken, your one desire was to have your parents. Apparently, that has not changed much at all. In fact, you may not have even noticed that your innermost desire has changed to include siblings. The Orb saw this, and associated it with the closest dimension to your desire. It was not the exact dimension I had picked, but it was close… very close, in fact.

"Anyway, I started to notice changes far before the _Daily Prophet_ began reporting the disappearances at Hogwarts. I knew that something would happen, and that it was only a matter of time before I could gain full control of it. It was lucky that I had thought of a binding spell before the Orb was stolen. The binding spell worked so that when the process was set off, I would have minimal control over what happened, if, for whatever reason, I were not in possession of the Orb. This is how I controlled your parents. I did not have to bother with your siblings as they listened to their elders without question."

"Wh… what did you tell them to do?"

"One major task I set your parents was to convince you to send me the Orb. It took a while, but the more times you let yourself get hit by the light, the more control I had over it, your parents, and consequently, you."

Voldemort quit talking and once again, moved dangerously close to Draco's hiding spot. Harry tensed, wishing that Draco would go away, but knew that his fiancé was most likely as transfixed by the story Voldemort was telling as he was.

"That is why your parents and siblings now exist, young Potter. I have brought them here for you. I promised you this in exchange for your service."

"No, I said that I would think about it after you told me about my family. But as it is, I still have some questions about this whole thing."

"I am not here to be your teacher, Potter," Voldemort said irritably.

"Well, the way you treat me now is very important to how I make my decision."

The Dark Lord glowered at Harry. "You, Potter, are not that important to me to be making bargains."

"Well, I don't see a problem with—" Harry dropped to the ground as a large crash resounded behind them, making the entire earth quake beneath their feet. Harry turned his head and saw to his horror that an entire tower had collapsed. "No!" he cried out in horror. "I have to go help!"

"You will not be going anywhere, Potter."

Harry spun around angrily. "Your Death Eaters probably just massacred hundreds of innocent people – children no doubt! How can you be so calm?"

"The children are fine, Potter. Besides, it is less opposition for me in the future."

Harry felt his blood boil in his veins. "You don't know that!"

The older wizard quirked an eyebrow. "Don't I?"

"Why you little piece of vermin!" Harry spit out, and in a moment of sheer stupidity, launched himself bodily at Voldemort. Before he could get within a few feet from him, Voldemort had stopped him mid-movement, and then cast the Cruciatus curse on him. Harry fell to the ground in pain as it felt like jackhammers pounding away on his nerves. Throughout the nerve-cutting pain, Harry kept his thoughts on Draco. He just knew that the blond would jump out of his hiding spot to try and help Harry, and Harry did not want that. It would only cause more problems.

"Sss…" Harry hissed through his screams. "Ssstay!" he screamed.

As soon as the word was out of his mouth, Voldemort lifted the curse, looking down at Harry in annoyance. "What did you say, Potter?"

"I said 'stay'," he gasped.

"Why, may I ask, would you say that? Who are you talking to?"

Voldemort began looking around their small clearing, past Harry's family, who were now huddling together, and right over Draco's bush. "You. I'm talking to you. I've decided to stay instead of going to help with the other students." Harry looked up from his kneeling position on the ground, breathing heavily. Voldemort bore down on him, hissing in annoyance. With a flick of his wrist, Harry was flipped onto his back, limbs spread-eagled, and Harry felt as if somebody's fingers were pressing into his throat.

"Potter, you better not be wasting my time," the Dark Lord said harshly.

Harry tried to speak, but it came out as a gurgle. Suddenly, Harry was flying through the air to the nearest tree, and was pinned with his back against it. The pressure on his throat was released. Voldemort had hardly moved at all.

With his breath knocked out of him, Harry gasped for breath, trying to find his voice. "I'm not. I promise," he wheezed. "I just… I just want to have some more questions answered, that's all. I know that you're not here to be my teacher. You have already done that once, so graciously, and I… I am grateful for what you taught me." Harry swallowed. "But you have a lot more knowledge that I'm eager to know, and that you can tell me."

Voldemort moved toward him, seeming to consider Harry. "You are very good at flattery, Mr. Potter. But… there is one thing that I request of you before I give you answers to your questions. Are you willing to give me what I want?"

"Perhaps, I am. What do you want?" Harry asked warily.

"Some interesting news has recently reached my ears about a former _servant_ of mine that I was particularly fond of. I hear that he has made plans to marry." Harry swallowed the lump that had suddenly formed and looked the man in the eyes. "If I am not mistaken, _you_ are his fiancé, Harry." Voldemort glanced down to Harry's hand, where his engagement ring was softly glowing in the near-darkness of the night. He reached down and took Harry's hand in his own, studying it. Harry winced as searing pain coursed through his scar. "Yes, this does prove the rumour true, doesn't it? How is Mr. Malfoy?" he asked, dropping the Gryffindor's hand and looking at him.

"Draco is fine," Harry replied tightly. "What do you want with him?"

"It depends on my mood, I think. Maybe I shall keep him around for my own pleasure for a while, maybe not. So, Harry… is it the information that you want, or your fiancé?"

"Do you even have to ask?"

"No, I knew the answer already, but I was making sure."

Voldemort waved his wand, and the bush that was hiding Draco blew apart, leaving Draco sitting on the ground, wide-eyed as he stared at Voldemort's back, as Voldemort had not turned around from Harry. Harry gave a soft whimper. "Draco."

"I thank you for the generous present, young Potter," Voldemort smirked, whipping his wand in a small circle, as if lassoing Draco, and pulled the blond to him. Draco let out a small whimper as his front was pressed tightly to Voldemort's side.

"What?" Harry asked incredulously.

"I thanked you for the gift."

"But… I was never going to give you him!"

"We must have a misunderstanding, Potter. I asked if you wanted the information or your fiancé, and you said, 'do you even have to ask.' I assumed that you wanted the information."

"The information isn't that important to me!" Harry bellowed. "I don't want to give you Draco."

Voldemort gave Harry a creepy smile, and pulled roughly on Draco's hair, pulling his head back. Draco grimaced, but did not make a sound, glaring as he made eye contact with the man holding him.

"What do you think of this, Draco?" Voldemort asked. "What would you rather have – Harry, me, or death?"

"If you don't let me have Harry, I would rather have death," Draco spat.

"That can be arranged quite easily. But before that happens, I would like to have _you _."

"Over my dead body, you sick—"

"Believe me, Potter, that can be arranged as well."

Harry struggled against the invisible force that was still binding him to the tree. "If you want to fight, at least give me a chance!"

"Who said I wanted to fight? It seems quite meaningless when I have you right where I want you. I would like to show you a few things while you are tied up." Voldemort looked down at Draco with a predatory look, to which he received a snarl in return. "_Imperio,_" he whispered with a kind of sick affection. Draco went limp in his arms. "This is just a little of what I'll enjoy doing with your boyfriend, Potter." The Dark Lord leaned down and brutally kissed Draco, who surrendered completely as he was under the curse. Draco lifted a hand and softly caressed Voldemort's neck, making Harry feel physically ill.

"Stop it!" Harry yelled. "Draco! Fight the curse! Don't let him do this to you! _Draco_!"

Harry had pulled out the dagger as he had lunged, and now was able to stab Voldemort in the left eye. He cried out as it pierced a half inch of his eye, blinding him instantly. After Voldemort had overcome his initial surprise, he sent Harry flying through the air again, slamming him into the same tree from which Harry had just freed himself. Harry dropped to the ground after impact, also dropping the dagger. Draco picked it up, and in his fear, could not aim, but managed to slash Voldemort in the wand arm, making it harder for him to hold and cast spells.

Harry forced himself from the ground, and ran towards the Orb, grabbing the glowing sphere into his arms. It protested from being taken, but Harry yanked on it hard enough to get it to cooperate. He held it aloft, ready to drop it. "Tom!" he called frantically when he saw the older wizard point his wand at Draco. Voldemort turned, and Draco scrambled on hands and knees to join Harry. "Answer my questions, or I break the Orb."

"No!" Voldemort screamed. "Give me the Orb! _Accio_ Orb"

Draco enunciated a spell that Harry did not know. The Orb flew from Harry's hands, but before it reached Voldemort, it bounced off an invisible wall, and Draco summoned it back into his own hands.

"Just tell me where all the people who have disappeared are," Harry commanded. "That's all I want to know."

Voldemort smiled nastily. "That's all you want to know, Potter?"

"Yes."

"My, my… I always thought you were a bit brighter than that. You should have been able to figure that out after I told you what the Orb does. The people who have disappeared, Potter… do not exist in the other dimension. Either they were never born, or have been killed, so it was only a natural process. It had to get rid of the people who were still in existence here."

"Well, what about the people who exist in both worlds?"

"They join together, as I have told you was my goal. I wanted my counterpart. Since I was knowledgeable of my counterpart's existence, I have been able to take advantage of his powers. It was unfortunate that some of my followers went mad after their counterparts joined them. Each had his own subconscious, along with the subconscious of his counterpart, both trying to be in charge of one body. I am fairly certain that that may have been the case with both of your dear godfathers. Some of my followers were able to overcome it; some were not, so I put them to death. They were of no use to me. They were weak, and that cannot be allowed."

Harry processed this information as quickly as he possibly could so that he could ask his next question. "So, these people are dead now?"

"I cannot possibly tell you, Potter, because I do not know," Voldemort sneered.

"Hmm," Draco pondered, Orb still in his hands. "So you don't know everything. Let's find out the answer to that question, shall we?"

Draco looked at Voldemort, to the waist-high boulder beside him, and then smashed the Orb onto it before anybody could react. "Merlin, that felt good," Draco sighed. "I've wanted to do that since you got the bloody thing, Harry."

Red light so bright, that Harry felt like it had burned his corneas, erupted. Harry suddenly felt like something was being ripped from his body. It was almost as painful as the Cruciatus curse, and he dropped to his knees, moaning in pain. He vaguely noticed Draco doing the same next to him. When the pain and light finally receded, Harry found that he and Draco had both sought each other out, holding tightly onto each other without realising it. Harry had his face buried in Draco's neck, whimpering softly. Draco pushed away from Harry, but held onto him as he looked to Voldemort. Voldemort was writhing on the ground. He was not screaming, but his face was twisted horribly.

"He used his counterpart's powers," Draco whispered. "The separation is probably worse for him." The blond stood abruptly and walked to the older wizard.

Harry looked to where the Orb had broken and let out a soft cry. "Draco…"

Draco did not hear him. "Let's take his wand. He'll be able to do wandless magic, of course, but it won't be as concentrated or powerful. It will also tire him out easier." Draco plucked Voldemort's wand from his hand, and whipped it into the lake.

"Draco!" Harry cried desperately. "Look!"

"What?" the Slytherin asked somewhat irritably, looking down at Voldemort's writhing body. "If we want to kill the bastard, now is the time to do it."

"Draco, they're back!"

"Who?" Draco whipped around and gasped in shock. There were hundreds of bodies lying all over the ground. The closest to Harry was Neville Longbottom, deathly pale and skinny. Harry could not tell if the boy was even alive or not. Harry scurried forward on his hands and knees, feeling for a pulse. To his enormous relief, there was a pulse; though weak, it gave Harry hope. All the mysterious disappearances were now explained, and the people were back. Hopefully they were all alive.

"There must be over a hundred people!" Draco exclaimed, hurrying forward. "But… they're all blocking the easiest path back to the school."

Harry bit his lip. Draco was correct, of course. All around them were mountains, and in front of them were the people who had just re-appeared, laying so close together that it would be difficult to even put a toe between them. "We could always adjust them with magic."

"There's no where else to put them but on top of each other. That's cruel."

"_Crucio_," whispered a croaked voice behind them, and Draco fell to the ground, screaming. Harry whirled around, and found Voldemort sitting on his knees. When he lifted the curse, he made to aim for Harry, but Draco pushed him aside, and took the curse again. Harry fell sideways onto Neville with a groan. But as Harry pushed himself up, he realised that the groan had not come from him, and that Neville had been awakened when Harry fell on him.

Neville blinked up at Harry. "Harry? What… what's going on? Where's Hannah? I thought I was just talking to her. I feel funny."

"Neville… shh. You're going to be weak. Try not to move too much, okay?"

"But what's going on?" Neville asked.

Harry began to get nervous as Voldemort kept the curse on Draco, and cast a shield charm, not knowing if it would work if the spell was already working. It did not stop the curse, but it lessened the effects, and Draco stopped screaming, though he was still in immense pain. "We're in the middle of a fight, Neville," Harry hurriedly said.

"What can I do?"

"You're too weak, Neville. Just stay there. Draco and I will take care of this."

But as Harry stood up, it seemed as though he and Draco would not have to do anything by themselves. Dumbledore arrived in a flash, carried by Fawkes. The Headmaster assessed the situation quickly: all the bodies, Harry, Draco, and Voldemort, before pulling out his wand, and training it on Voldemort. The Dark wizard stood up immediately, though a bit unsteadily after all the pain he had endured, and glowered at Dumbledore.

"Dumbledore. It figures you could not leave Potter to fight his own fights."

"On the contrary, Tom, everybody was effected by the phenomenon a moment ago, and so I arrived here as soon as I could to inspect. I did not know that Harry or Draco were here. I always let Harry fight his own battles."

Without warning, Voldemort sent a curse to Dumbledore, who reflected it back and sent one of his own. "Boys, check on those people!" Dumbledore called as he reflected yet another curse.

Draco scowled, but bent over an elderly wizard who was laid next to Neville. Harry went back to Neville, who was sitting up. "Where are we?" Neville asked, rubbing his head. The boulder and some bushes were blocking the boy's view of the lake and Hogwarts. Harry placed a hand on his shoulder.

"We're on the opposite side of the lake at Hogwarts."

"Oh. How did I get here?"

"It's a long story, Neville, believe me. It has also taken you a long time to get here. It's June now."

"_June_?" Neville asked incredulously, eyes wide as he stared. "But… what year?"

"1998."

Neville stared and promptly fainted.

Suddenly, a curse hit Harry in the back and he keeled over, a burning sensation travelling throughout his body. Draco hurried to him as the two wizards continued duelling. The elderly wizard whom Draco had been helping approached them as well, bending over Harry. Harry was choking, tears of pain filling his eyes.

"Don't panic," the older man said in a scratchy voice. "I'm a retired Healer, boy. Sit still." He pulled out a wand and began working over Harry. In a few moments, Harry felt a cool sensation wash over him. It was instant relief.

"Thank you, sir," he whispered, feeling his body tingle almost pleasantly.

"It's no problem, Mr. Potter."

Harry heard something fall to the ground behind them, and the three wizards turned to see that it was Dumbledore who had fallen. Voldemort was standing over him, smiling nastily.

"What say we help the Headmaster," the old Healer said in his rough voice, getting to his feet. "Stupefy on two. One, two… _Stupefy!_" bellowed all three at once. The spell however, only made Voldemort stumble back a few feet. Harry used the setback to his advantage, grabbing the dagger, which had somehow fallen to the forest floor, and rushed toward the Dark wizard, slashing his throat. Voldemort let out a strangled yell, reaching out to catch Harry. Unfortunately, the wound was not very deep, so Harry had to get closer again. He lifted the dagger, ready to strike, when Voldemort summoned it into his own hand, and slashed the tip across Harry's chest, and it dragged over to the inside of his elbow, making a deep cut. Voldemort then stuck it into Harry's right thigh. Harry fell to the ground in agonised pain and pulled out the dagger. Voldemort had gone back to Dumbledore after stunning the Healer and Draco. Dumbledore looked pale, on the verge of death.

Harry stood shakily and limped painfully to them, finding that he no longer had the use of his left arm, where the dagger had cut so deeply into his elbow. Dumbledore nodded almost imperceptibly at him, and Harry nodded back before driving the dagger deep into Voldemort's side. Harry fell to the ground. Voldemort magicked the dagger out of his side, made it fly into Harry's stomach, just above his belly button.

Harry let out a loud cry of pain, and bravely pulled it back out. He clamped his hand tightly over the wound and concentrated his entire being on getting the dagger to fly straight into Voldemort's stomach. To his relief, the dagger flew from his hand and right below the sternum, where he had imagined. Harry then imagined it cutting a path down to Voldemort's belly button, and the dagger obeyed his thoughts. Voldemort gurgled as it cut a path, apparently now too weak to do anything. Harry twisted the dagger with his mind, and then let it fly out of the new wound, and up to Voldemort's neck, where it slowly, but deeply cut into the older cut.

Voldemort looked to Harry with dilated eyes. "Potter… you… I hate you."

Harry moved the dagger from his neck, and wasted no time in plunging the dagger straight into Voldemort's heart. The Dark wizard went stiff before his eyes rolled back and he fell limp. Harry stared for a few moments, and let out a humourless laugh, feeling a bit out of his mind. "I like you this way. I've had enough."

Harry let his head fall back onto the ground, and darkness claimed him.

Warmth washed through the mountainous grounds of Hogwarts as the sun began to show itself timidly from the other side of the mountains. It bathed the grounds with its soft pink and yellow light, promising a better day than the previous. Birds began chirping from their perches in trees, mixing with the sounds of hundreds of voices, some talking in excitement, some in hushed whispers, most strained with exhaustion.

Harry woke to these sounds, and welcomed them, along with the warm hands gripping his arm and forearm, and gentle weight resting on his hip. The Gryffindor blurrily opened his eyes to see that Draco was snoozing peacefully next to Harry's makeshift bed. They were on the Hogwarts' grounds near Hagrid's hut, surrounded by the injured in their own beds, and Healers from St. Mungo's who were bustling around, tending to the injured. Harry lazily brought his left hand up and tried to run it through Draco's hair. But he found that for some reason, he could not move his arm up more than a few inches without experiencing excruciating pain. Tears of pain flooded his eyes and he quickly put the hand back down. Taking calming breaths, he extricated his right hand from Draco's grip and ran that hand through Draco's hair instead. It was sticky from yesterday's gel, sweat, and possibly blood, but Harry did not care much. Draco began to stir from sleep and raised sleep-heavy lids to look up at Harry. His silver eyes brightened immediately and brought Harry's hand to his mouth and kissed it.

"G'morning," Harry greeted thickly. "May I ask why my left arm doesn't want to move much without pain?"

Draco frowned. "You should know better than me. I was stunned. At any rate, you were cut on your inner elbow. It caused a lot of nerve damage. The Healer was too concerned with the stab wounds at the time to notice it right away. They said that you should get more range of motion in it eventually, but you should take it easy for now." Draco then laughed a bit maniacally. "You're such an idiot."

"Why?"

"I don't know. You and that dagger though… you have formed a great relationship with it, no matter how reluctantly you have done so."

Harry arched an eyebrow in question.

"When the stunning charm wore off me, I looked over to you and Voldemort, and saw the dagger sticking out of his chest…. And him, dead as Weasley in room full of spiders. I knew you would do it. Then Dumbledore called to me, and he was near death."

"He's not…" Harry began fearfully.

"No, he's recovering somewhere around here. Perhaps he's in his chambers. I don't think they were destroyed. That old man that I revived had a good part in keeping him alive… same with you, actually. I owe that man a life debt, but I don't even know his name."

"He saved _my_ life," Harry reminded him. "I'm the one who owes him a life debt."

"Nah," Draco brushed him off. "Healers don't accept life debts to people they healed. It's their job, but he saved me from living without you by helping you. Therefore, I owe him a life debt."

"That's ridiculous," Harry smiled, brushing a dirty piece of blond hair away from Draco's face. Draco smiled back as he leaned forward, and kissed Harry softly.

"Harry?" somebody coughed from beside them. Aunt Petunia was standing on the other side of Harry's bed, shifting a bit nervously.

"Aunt Petunia… where were you during all of this?"

"I was put into the Ravenclaw Common Room to wait. I… Harry, I just wanted to thank you and… and Draco for getting Vernon back."

"Oh, well, it was Draco who broke the Orb and let them all out. I wasn't the one…"

"All the same," Aunt Petunia rushed on. "Draco told me the story a few hours ago. If you hadn't killed this… Voldemort, then who knows what could have happened to all those people who had disappeared… to Vernon." She sat on the edge of Harry's bed. Harry sat up slowly and painfully to better look her in the eye. "For what it's worth, Harry, I really am sorry about not telling you the truth about myself. You deserved to know the truth, and I kept it from you, even after you found out who you are." She swept a hand across his forehead, and stopped to stare at the scar. "You deserved better than what we gave you." Harry watched in curious fascination as silent tears fell down her cheeks. Aunt Petunia smiled sadly, moving her hand to the side of his head, and kissing him on the forehead.

At that moment, Harry was so overcome with the likeness between his aunt's and mother's touch that he pulled her to him and held desperately onto her. She seemed to be too stunned to do much of anything for a few moments, but then awkwardly hugged him. "I'm sorry," Harry muttered as he pulled away slightly. He studied his aunt's face. It was hard to think of her as pretty as his mother, but there was a definite resemblance to Lily Potter. It made Harry's chest ache intolerably. "You're just… you're a lot more like my mum than I ever thought you were."

"Oh…. Harry, how would you know?" Aunt Petunia asked blankly.

"I met her this year…. But it's a long story that I don't feel like telling you right now. Maybe Draco and I will visit you sometime soon for tea, and we'll both tell you what Voldemort told us."

"That would be nice. Although… Vernon…"

"We'll just have to work around his schedule," Draco said quietly.

"_Petunia_!" bellowed a low voice. "_Petunia_!"

"Oh, dear," Aunt Petunia murmured, standing up. "I think Vernon is awake," she added needlessly. She began to walk away, but then turned back at the last moment and approached Harry once more. "Harry… take care of yourself, okay? You know my telephone number for when you and Draco want to come over."

Harry nodded, feeling a bit disappointed. Even after all Petunia had been through, she was still rejecting what she really was, a witch. She made it clear that she did not want to receive any sort of owls, or have them call her through the fireplace. She wanted to be contacted the 'normal' way. Aunt Petunia gave a small smile and then hurried to her husband.

Harry stared after her for a few moments, before turning to smile weakly at Draco.

"At least she's attempting to stay in contact with you," Draco said reasonably. "It's her loss if she wants to reject the wizarding world."

"Yeah… Where is everybody else, Draco?"

Draco scanned the area briefly. "Granger and Weasley are around here somewhere. They were both injured, but nothing too serious, so they were asked to help with transferring people to beds. Professor Black is also around, though I think he's in a bed. He was out of it pretty good."

"Why don't they bring these people to St. Mungo's?" Harry asked.

"They're already overflowing. They've had to call in Healers from different countries to help with demand. It would not have been so bad if all those people had not shown up and needed medical attention. They're the ones who are at St. Mungo's, except your uncle of course. Muggles aren't allowed treatment there. It was something though, Harry… that Orb got rid of just as many Muggles as Wizards. We had to Obliviate all of the ones who saw us doing magic, and transport them to a Muggle hospital somewhere. It's probably all over their news how all the missing people have turned up so mysteriously."

Harry shook his head while gingerly lying back down. "This is so surreal. Voldemort was trying to merge two different dimensions…. And he's dead. It's such a relief. You have no idea."

"Harry, you prat, I think I have some idea what a relief it is," Draco said dryly.

Harry offered a sheepish grin. "Yeah, I suppose you do." He opened his blankets and patted the bed. "Join me," he demanded softly. "My bed is getting a bit cold."

When the boys were snuggled together, Harry shifted his eyesight to the castle, and was quite surprised by what he saw. There were at least three towers missing, though he could only remember one falling during the night, and there was the large hole leading into the Great Hall, along with some smaller ones. Parts of the stone were falling from high above. It looked as though the castle was banned from anybody going in, so he did not know how Dumbledore could possibly be in there.

"Can anybody even get into the castle anymore? It looks a bit unstable."

"Yes, there's a hole blasted into the south side, and for now, that is being presumed safe enough to use as the only entrance. It's a pity, really. We're going to have to take our N.E.W.T's elsewhere. I just hope that they give them to us soon because I want to be able to get into the Auror program this September."

"Harry, you're awake!" exclaimed Hermione, bounding up to the pair. Ron was limping behind her, and sat down on Draco's leg with a sigh. Draco glared at him and yanked his limb free from the red-head.

"Yes, I am. Are you two all right?" "Yes, I'm fine," Hermione said briskly. "I only had a few simple injuries that Ginny healed for me. Ron had a curse hit his leg, though, and the Healers don't know if it will ever be the same. I wish I would have been there to hear what curse it was though. That was the thing that was stumping the Healers. They can't figure out what kind of spell it was. It was either an ancient spell that has been long forgotten or one that is new."

"All right, you human manual on what's what," Draco scoffed, effectively getting Hermione to quieten.

Harry smiled slightly, and turned to Ron. "It doesn't hurt much, does it?"

"Not really, only when I walk."

"Oh, honestly, Ron," Hermione huffed.

"I might as well make the best of it, shouldn't I?" he said with a shrug. "And anyway, there's something else that we need to tell you, Harry."

Hermione and Ron's face had gone sullen, and Harry immediately feared the worse. "What?" he whispered.

"It's Hagrid," Hermione said quietly. "They figure somebody held the Cruciatus curse on him for far too long. He's at St. Mungo's in the permanent spell damage ward. We saw him before he left. Somebody had to shave off his beard… if he wasn't so distinguishable, I wouldn't have been able to recognise him. He looked like a completely different person."

"Oh, god," Harry moaned in despair, and buried his face in Draco's chest. A thought hit Harry that should not have been relevant after finding out that one of your most loved friends was permanently brain damaged, but it seemed important for a strange reason. He lifted his head. "What about Fang?"

"Oh!" Hermione seemed surprised. "I don't know. I didn't even think of that, to tell you the truth."

Harry immediately looked at Draco, who went wide-eyed. "No way, Harry! I am not taking in that monster of a dog. There's no bloody way."

"Draco, we have to! He was Hagrid's dog, and he loved Fang. Fang can't just wander around the Hogwarts grounds lost, looking for his owner."

"He'll always be looking for Hagrid, no matter where he is."

"That's why we'll take him to St. Mungo's to see Hagrid."

"They don't allow pets in the hospital, Harry. It's unsanitary."

"We'll figure out a way. Please, Draco. Please."

Draco looked desperately into Harry's green eyes. "I don't want a dog," he protested weakly.

"Please, Draco."

"Oh," Draco moaned desperately. "I… keep him at Black Manor for this summer, and then we'll see when we get married, okay? I just… I hate dogs, Harry. I'd rather have a black cat, named Davis."

Harry's face brightened immediately and he kissed Draco. "We'll get a black cat and name him that," Harry informed Draco breathlessly when they pulled away. "Just as long as I get to keep Fang."

Draco sulked.

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**A/N: **Remember if you want teasers from upcoming chapters and notices for when I'm updating, please join my Yahoo!group. The link is on my author page.

Also, I've now given the sequel to this fic a name. It will be, 'Lacuna'. Look the word up if you want a vague clue. :-) Also, we're in the last stages of this fic. The only reason I've taken so long in getting this chapter up is because Schnoogle took over a week to get it up. I suppose there were too many fics being submitted. Oh well.


	20. A Different Kind of Beginning

**A/N:** Regular thanks to my beta PadfootsBitch, and those who continue to read and review! I deeply appreciate it!

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**Remember You**  
_Chapter Twenty_

The fatalities of the war for the Light side had reached a high unseen in a war since Grindewald's reign. There was a record low number of Aurors after the last battle, and it seriously inhibited the reconstruction of the Ministry of Magic. There were about twenty Death Eaters who had escaped from Hogwarts after they had heard of their Master's demise, and were yet to be caught. But with the diminished academy of Aurors, there was not much the magical community could do about the continued existence of Death Eaters in society. They just had to wait, and hope that the newest recruits could be trained quickly enough to join the Aurors and round up the last of the Death Eaters.

Harry was not worried about those witches and wizards who were hoping to make it through the extensive three year training program. He was worried about his chances of the Aurors even letting him into the program. Harry found that the injury to his arm was a lasting one that would probably stick with him his entire life. Madam Pomfrey had been working with Harry through physical therapy since the end of the battle. They had made some improvement. When first coming from the battle, Harry had only been able to keep his arm straight with his body, lifting his hand a mere two inches before the pain started. Now, with the nurse's help, he was able to lift it up to a forty degree angle.

The now former Gryffindor tried not to let his hopes fall due to his injury, as it had only been a month since the battle, but it was hard not to worry since the trials for the Auror program were fast approaching. To top off all his worry, though Draco wanted Harry's arm to heal, Harry felt that Draco was almost supportive of a slow recovery. It annoyed Harry, but he tried not to let it bother him when he and Draco were together.

Draco had been very preoccupied ever since the last battle. Snape had been very seriously injured in the battle, and was still in St. Mungo's recovering from dragon burns, and a blow over the head from a troll's club.

This was why Harry spent most of his time at Black Manor with Sirius and Remus, with Hermione and Ginny as frequent visitors, planning for the wedding. Plans had become the main focus ever since the N.E.W.T's had been finished. Two weeks after the battle, the teachers arranged for seventh year students to take the tests. Tents were set up around the Hogwarts grounds – one for each subject – and the students convened in their respective tents for their tests. It had taken approximately a week, and by the beginning of July, all tests for fifth and seventh years had been administered. Harry had gone in confident that he could do everything with ease, but he no longer cared. He did not have a reason to do the best he could. Nevertheless, he did show everybody that he was capable of completing the difficult tasks set. Harry was glad when it was all over, and he could concentrate on something that did not make him want to sulk. The ceremony and reception plans were coming along great, but there was still the problem of booking a place to hold both. The Minister of Magic had held true to his promise, even after Harry killed Voldemort.

"Oh, Harry," Hermione sighed fretfully the evening before Harry's birthday, in the sitting room. "I just don't know what we'll do if we can't find a place. The date is coming up so quickly. Have you realised that you're getting married in no less than three weeks?"

"Yeah, Hermione, it has crossed my mind a few times," Harry said dryly.

"Any normal bachelor in Harry's place would have that on their mind twenty-four hours a day, Hermione," Sirius commented, walking into the room.

"Sirius!" Hermione immediately jumped on the older man, but for reasons completely separate from the wedding. "How is the reconstruction of Hogwarts coming?"

Sirius dropped unceremoniously onto a couch with a sigh just as Remus entered the room, looking worse for wear. They had both offered their help in rebuilding the castle that summer, and returned home every night exhausted and completely drained of magic.

"It's coming, that's for sure. We finally finished the Great Hall today around noon. We've started on Gryffindor Tower. And a specialist team has come in to repair the paintings. I'm afraid that the Gryffindor portrait hole will have to have a new portrait. The fat lady's portrait is completely irreparable. She fled the portrait, and nobody had been able to find her. I don't think she's coming back. What with my attack on her that one time, and the attack a month ago, she's probably decided that Hogwarts isn't safe enough for her."

Hermione frowned. "That's really too bad. I always rather liked her. I hope she is all right. What about the other holes that were made in the castle?"

"There's somebody working on those," Remus said, moving an arm around Sirius's shoulders. Sirius moved into his body with a small sigh and closed his eyes. "It's difficult putting stones back into a castle. It's like trying to finish a puzzle, but finding that you can't because the pieces have been torn apart beyond recognition."

"I would imagine it would be difficult," Hermione sympathized.

"Yes," Remus sighed, "but I've had enough talking about Hogwarts for one day. Did you look at any potential wedding locations?"

"We didn't," Harry gestured between Hermione and himself, "but Draco did." He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "He Floo-ed me when he got back to Snape's house. He was quite distressed about what happened."

"What happened?" Sirius asked curiously, lazily opening his eyes.

"Well, we had been looking through books of places the other day," Harry explained, "and found this nice looking place in Wiltshire. Draco was particularly excited about it because that's where the Manor House is located. He was hoping that it would make it easier for his mother to attend, though _I_ don't see why she would, just because it's close. Anyway, Draco went there this morning, expressing interest. The owner was quite amenable to the idea at first. But when the owner asked how Draco had come across the place, he said, 'Harry was looking with one of his friends, and they came across it in a book.'

"Well," Harry sighed, "the old coot became suspicious and asked if his fiancée's name was Harriet by any chance." Hermione let out a small laugh, but quieted when Harry glared at her. "Draco was quite blunt and said, 'No, my fiancé's name is Harry. If you're wondering, yes, Harry is a man. I am marrying a man, and would like for you to accommodate us.'"

"He kicked Draco out, didn't he?" Remus asked.

"At wand point," Harry replied tonelessly. "The man even threw a curse at Draco. Draco had boils on his arm when he Apparated home. I suppose it's an improvement though. I mean, it tells us that Fudge hasn't been to every possible place to tell them not to host our wedding. Yes, that guy was a bigoted piece of sh—"

"Harry!" Hermione admonished. "You've been with Draco too much."

Harry shrugged. "Well, he was a bigot anyway. We just have to hope that there is somebody out there whom Fudge hasn't contacted, and doesn't mind two men being together."

"Don't worry about Fudge, Harry," Hermione said vindictively. "He'll be out of office soon enough. The election is coming soon, and I'll personally make sure that he gets the boot."

After receiving the results for the N.E.W.T.s a week prior, job offers had poured in for Hermione. She had received the highest scores since Dumbledore himself. Hermione had not needed to deliberate for long, and quickly chose Junior Undersecretary for a very popular candidate in the race for Minister of Magic. She had chosen this in hopes to have a better chance in furthering her pursuits with S.P.E.W and any other endeavours for magical creatures that may cross her mind. After her appointment, the Daily Prophet had done an extensive article on her, protesting her appointment as she was so young. But the candidate had come forward with permission from Hermione to publish her N.E.W.T scores. The general public had agreed that she was indeed a good choice. It had all happened so fast for Hermione, and it looked as though she was beaming with happiness whenever anybody mentioned her accomplishments in front of her.

"Yes, but the election is after the wedding, isn't it," Harry commented wistfully.

Don't worry so much," Remus consoled. "We'll find something."

Suddenly, Sirius sat up straight, eyes bright. "I thought of something. We're stupid not to have thought of this before. I'll be back!" With that, Sirius ran from the room.

Harry sighed and leaned back into his seat. "He almost reminds me of Hermione when he does that."

"Hey!"

Sirius bounded back into the room a few minutes later in his dog form, tongue lolling happily from his mouth. Sirius transformed back into a man and beamed down at Harry.

"I just had a chat with a certain Headmaster of Hogwarts," he smiled evasively.

"Good for you, Sirius," Harry smiled, an eyebrow raised.

"You don't get the point, Harry! I asked him permission to use the Hogwarts grounds for your wedding, and he said that he would be delighted to hold the wedding there. I'm sure that by that time, the castle should look okay from the outside, if not from the inside. But that wouldn't matter anyway, because weren't you looking for a place with nice grounds so that you could hold the ceremony outside?"

"Yes, but Sirius… won't Fudge protest?"

"Fudge, smudge," Sirius waved him off, sitting next to Remus again. "Have you ever known Dumbledore to listen to the Minister about something that he doesn't agree on? Dumbledore doesn't mind gay relationships, and certainly not gay marriages. I hear tell from Mad Eye that Dumbledore sowed a few wild oats with both genders in his youth, though he never did settle down with neither man nor women. His preference is still a mystery to me."

"But…" Harry protested. "His youth was in the 1800's, Sirius! How in the world was that even done back then?"

"Wizards have always been more understanding, though everything was still kept hush-hush, I could imagine. Anyway, that's not what's important… what do you say about holding the wedding there?"

"Holding the wedding where?" Draco asked, entering the room. He was dressed in splendid blue robes that Harry had bought him on their shopping trip in Hogsmeade, and just visibly peeking from underneath were Harry's gift of dragon hide boots on his feet. Harry stood with a smile. They had not come into close contact for the better part of four days, as Draco was at the hospital at all hours of the day, or at Snape's home, sleeping.

Harry grabbed the blonde's hands and pulled him into a tight embrace. "I haven't seen you wear any of those clothes yet. They look stunning on you."

"You had doubts?" Draco smirked.

"Of course not," Harry grinned, giving the blond a kiss.

"Anyway," Draco started again, pulling Harry back into his seat, "where are we planning on holding the wedding?"

"If it's all right with you and Harry, we can hold it at Hogwarts. Professor Dumbledore gave his permission to me a few minutes ago."

Draco's eyes lit up and he looked to Harry. "I had thought of that a few months ago, but I didn't think it would be possible. What do you think, Harry? I think it would be perfect. We can get married by the lake at sunset, and have fairies light up the reception…"

"Aww," Hermione cooed, "Draco the romantic."

"Hush, Granger. Oh, where are my manners?" Draco chastised himself, and standing in front of the young woman and taking her hand. Hermione seemed to be a bit taken aback as she stared wide-eyed up at him. Draco offered up a silly grin. "Congratulations on becoming youngest Junior Undersecretary to a potential Minister of Magic. 'Tis quite the achievement, milady." Draco swept his free hand behind his back, bending slightly and kissed the back of Hermione's hand with practiced elegance. Harry smiled goofily at him, while Hermione gawked.

"Er – Draco, thank you…. I think."

Hermione continued to stare with her mouth slightly agape as Draco sat beside Harry again. She coughed when Harry elbowed her in the side. "I think I'll put down some money to get Ron some lessons, so that he can do that without blushing."

Harry grinned, letting Draco drape his arm about his shoulders and pull him further into their seat. "By the way, Draco, I would love it if we held the ceremony at Hogwarts."

"Wonderful!" Sirius exclaimed jumping up. "I've just had another idea!" And with that, he was gone from the room.

"_Harry_…. Harry, Harry, Harry... _Harry, babe_."

Harry swatted at Draco, who was now blowing in his ear, trying to wake him up. "If you call me 'babe' ever again, I won't be responsible for anything that I do," Harry snarled irritably. Harry had been having a most pleasant dream about having sex with Draco, and was very miffed that he had been woken from it.

"But, Harry," Draco whined. "I can tell that you were having a wet dream, and I wanted to do something about it."

"Sod off," Harry grumbled as he tried to pull a blanket over his head to block the sun, but found that he had kicked the blankets off him "I don't remember going to bed with you last night," he murmured sleepily.

"That's because you disappeared last night and fell asleep in the grass by the water, you prat," Draco said exasperated.

"Huh?" Harry asked intelligently, lifting his head up, to find that he had indeed fallen asleep by the lake. With this realisation, he at once made another one.

"Oh… I was quite drunk last night, wasn't I?"

"Yes, you were."

"Did I make a complete arse of myself?"

"Not entirely," Draco said indifferently. "Even if you did, it was your birthday, and so had a right to.

"What time is it?"

"Noon. I saw you here last night, but decided to teach you a lesson in getting drunk."

"Oh, well, I'll have you know that I didn't learn one."

"And I'll have you know that your breath quite possibly smells exactly like hippogriff dung."

"So kissing you senseless is out of the question."

"It is for now, yes." Draco lifted his wand and cleaned Harry's mouth with it. "I was a bit disappointed, you know. I had a surprise to give you in the bedroom last night when everybody went home, but you had to go wander off like the drunken idiot you were."

"Can you give it to me now?" Harry asked slyly. "I'm sure that there is nobody in the Manor but the house elves to see anything."

"What makes you think that it's dirty?"

"By that evil glint in your eye… come on, Draco, give it to me!"

Draco smiled a bit shakily and looked around. "I… Harry, I'm nervous about this, though. Can't we go somewhere a bit more secluded?"

"Sure. Lead me and I'll follow."

The blond stood up and offered Harry a hand. "Let's go to the gardens. There's plenty of seclusion there, I think."

"Why don't we go inside?"

"I want it to be somewhere unique, now that my first plan for the bedroom was foiled."

The two young men walked across the grounds of Black Manor with Harry enjoying the early August warmth. It was a clear day so far, but there were clouds over the mountains that held promise of a good storm later. Harry decided to revel in the fact that he had Draco with him, and that there was no hangover of which to speak. Either he had not drank as much as he thought, or Draco had given him a hangover cure before he woke up. The former was entirely possible as Harry was quite the lightweight with a drink.

Draco led him into the maze, and soon they came upon a small courtyard. There was a large tree in the middle with four-foot high bushes surrounding it in a circle. Draco hurdled over it easily and motioned for Harry to do the same. There was hardly room to move in the small area between the tree and bushes, but Draco pulled Harry down so that he was sitting with his back against the tree. Harry eyed a rather suspicious looking hole in the ground, hoping that it was not a gnome hole. The last thing they wanted to contend with was a pesky gnome. Draco sat lotus style, knees touching the side of Harry's legs.

"So, what's the surprise?" Harry asked eagerly.

"Er – I know it may sound crazy, Harry… but I've decided that I want… no I _need_ this. And I've also decided that you won't mind giving it to me at all since you love me, and would do anything for me…" Draco offered an uncertain smile.

"Of course I would, you idiot," Harry admonished gently, leaning over to kiss his cheek. Before he could pull away however, Draco had grabbed his chin and pulled him into a deep kiss. Harry answered with an appreciative moan, pulling the blond onto his lap. When they finally pulled away, they were breathing heavily.

"What do you need, Draco?" Harry asked gently, running his hand down Draco's cheek.

"I need you."

"You have me."

"No, Harry… _I need you_."

"Oh. _Oh!_ Draco… how can you be sure?"

"Because I love you and therapy has been going well. Healer Adina says that I'm doing so well."

"I know you're doing well with therapy. You're not so bad with your emotions afterwards… but Draco, honestly, are you ready for this?"

"Yes!" he exclaimed vehemently. "I want this, and so do you. Please."

Draco took him in a hard, passion-filled kiss. Harry did not feel the energy to reject him, so he kissed back. Before they knew it, their clothes were both discarded, thrown in different directions. Harry's shirt was strewn over the opposite side of the bushes. When he had opened his eyes as Draco devoured his neck, he could have sworn that he caught a glimpse of Draco's trousers in the tree. He could not be sure since Draco had forcefully pulled his head back down for a kiss. It all seemed rushed and needy, but as they both realised that they could not wait much longer to be joined together, it slowed down to a slow, steady pace.

"How do you…" Harry gasped out.

"I want to be on top," Draco panted, pulling on Harry's earlobe with his teeth. The blond pulled back, taking Harry's hand and sucking leisurely on the darker boy's fingers. Harry groaned, watching Draco's mouth devour his fingers. Harry took his fingers back and guided them gently behind Draco, prodding gently. Breath hitching in his chest, he slid a finger inside. Draco was shaking almost uncontrollably, but he nodded encouragingly when Harry questioned him with a look. Draco moaned each time a new finger was added, and began moving on them slightly when the third was in.

Draco gasped. "Please, Harry…"

"I need something," Harry breathed. Draco spit onto his own hand and coated Harry's erection with his saliva. Harry moaned, arching into the touch.

"Okay." Draco moved to position himself.

"Are you sure?" Harry asked one last time. He knew that if Draco did not make him stop now, it would be hard to do so once they really began.

"Yes."

Harry bit his lip as he began to ease his way in. He watched for any signs on Draco's face for any further discomfort than was normal, or any signs of fear, but seeing none, he pushed all the way in, with which he only received one whimper of discomfort. "Let me get used to it," Draco whispered, letting his forehead rest on Harry's shoulder.

Harry pressed his lips against Draco's neck, and muttered encouraging words, and how much he loved Draco, just to remind the blond who he was in case he had any flashbacks.

"Okay," Draco whispered finally and slid up.

Harry clenched his jaw, the heat almost too much to handle. He thought he would not be able to last, and was afraid to disappoint Draco. But, he held onto Draco's hips as an anchor and desperately tried not to drown before him. From there on out was almost a blur as their bodies moved together with increasing speed and passion. Their sounds of arousal echoed in the air around them, but they took no notice. Draco was almost constant with his purrs, moans, and encouragement as he rode Harry. At one point, they leaned their faces into each other's bodies, smelling the sweat that was coming from their bodies, smelling the heady scent of arousal.

"Oh…. Harry!" Draco moaned.

Harry felt his heart swell as they leaned away, only to come together again in a kiss. The tips of their tongues met and casually smoothed over each other, gradually probing in further and further. They slowly pulled away from the kiss, and Draco bit down on Harry's bottom lip. It sent shockwaves of pleasure throughout his body, and he could not hold back any longer. He cried out, digging his nails into Draco's skin. "I'm sorry…. I'm sorry," he whispered against Draco's neck. "I tried to wait."

Draco laughed quietly. "Stamina does not come naturally," he rubbed his face against Harry's, his face set in a grin. Harry, in order to cover his embarrassment, kissed Draco hard and wrapped a hand around him. Draco grunted, pressing closer. It did not take much longer before Draco was gasping and then sagging against Harry's body. Harry collapsed back against the tree, completely wiped. They kissed lazily for a few moments. "I love you," Harry murmured.

"Mmm… love you so much, Harry," Draco slurred sleepily.

A loud clap of thunder sounded above them, and rain started to pour down around them. They both looked up in surprise, not having noticed the storm move over them. "We should get dressed and go inside," Draco suggested reluctantly.

"You do know that we're going back to bed, right?"

"Oh, yes, Mr. Potter… I know." Draco winked at Harry, sliding his body gingerly off of Harry's. The blond looked at their surroundings with a furrowed brow. "Where in the bloody blue hell did all my clothes go?"

Harry was watching him, slack jawed from the ground. Rain was pouring from the skies, running in torrents down Draco's naked body, and his hair was in strings, plastered to his forehead and cheeks. Harry grabbed Draco's hand and pulled him back in his lap. "I say we stay out here and have another go," he purred, nipping softly at Draco's neck.

"Even I can't believe that you'd be ready for another round after _that_," Draco shook his head. The blond looked up and spotted his trousers in the tree. "Wow… I wonder how that happened."

After much toiling around on Harry's part, they managed to summon all their clothing, pull on the sodden material, and trek back through the maze of gardens and back to the Manor. When they arrived, Sirius met them, grinning slightly, but also admonishing them for being so careless in the rain. "Remus doesn't want me to say anything," Sirius whispered conspiratorially as Draco dried his clothes with a spell, "but I'll have you know that you two gave the house elves quite a scare."

"Why?" Harry asked confused.

"With all the noise you two made out there, they thought you were killing each other. It was echoing all over the place."

"Oh," Harry blushed, and pulled Draco up to their room, still dripping wet.

"But don't worry," Sirius called after them. "I don't think the neighbours in the town ten kilometres off are too worried about you. I think they could distinguish the sound of se—Ouch!"

Harry looked back and saw the Remus had sneaked up behind Sirius and hit him across the shoulder and begin chastising him like a two year old. The two younger men laughed silently and continued on their way.

The next few weeks passed in a blur of frantic, last minute wedding plans. In the interim, Snape had been released from St. Mungo's with a bill of good health, and had proceeded in badgering Harry about making less than satisfactory plans for the wedding. Harry ignored him to the best of his ability, but it was difficult. But before he knew it, the day arrived and thankfully, he did not need to talk to or see Snape until after the ceremony.

There were two tents set up where the grooms each readied themselves, and waited for the time. Harry paced around his tent for an hour until he heard Draco arrive in the tent next to his, then he paced for another hour until Hermione finally kicked everybody out and forcefully stopped him.

"Harry, what is the matter with you?"

Harry pouted. "You've forced Draco and me to stay away from each other since after dinner last night, saying it was for good luck…. Well, I say _sod that_! I would feel a whole lot better if I could just see him once before we marry!"

From somewhere in the tent beside them, a muffled 'hear, hear!' was shouted at them. Harry grinned foolishly. "See? Draco agrees with me."

"It's not going to happen under my watch. Now I'm going just outside the tent to speak with Mrs. Weasley. The guests have started to arrive, and we want to make sure that the only photographer who gets in is Colin Creevey. I'll be _watching_, so don't even think about sneaking over there."

"I'd chance it, Harry!" Draco yelled through the tents.

"Oh, honestly," Hermione huffed and stalked out of the tent.

Harry walked to the wall that was nearest to Draco and stared. He was sorely tempted to just crawl under the cloth wall and into Draco's.

"Are you standing at the wall too?" Draco asked suddenly. Harry jumped back slightly in surprise.

"Yes, actually, I am."

"Well, put something on over your clothes so that I can't see how dead sexy you look in them and crawl under here."

"Why don't _you_ crawl under the tent?"

"Because I'm much too pretty."

Harry shrugged, grabbed a table cloth from the one table in the tent and wrapped it around himself. "I'm coming under," he whispered conspiratorially as he glanced at the door. He stooped to his hands and knees and crawled beneath the tent wall. There was only a foot of space between the tents and when he looked, he could see people milling about to his right. He bit his lip to keep from laughing and lifted the bottom of Draco's tent over his head.

"Hello, stranger," Draco whispered and helped him to his knees. He, too, had grabbed a table cloth to wrap around himself. Harry lifted his head with a smile. Draco took a deep breath and licked his lips. "You're not wearing your glasses."

"No. Does it look bad? I keep going to push them up my nose. It's kind of annoying."

"Blimey, no, it doesn't look bad. Stand up already."

Harry stood, and they both stared at each other for a few moments. Draco's face seemed like it had been scrubbed clean at least ten times. His cheeks were rosy, his eyes shining, and his hair didn't have gel in it. It looked soft and was falling around his eyes.

"You are too pretty," Harry breathed; now glancing down to Draco's lips. They looked almost swollen, like Draco had been biting them; they were freshly moistened and opened partly.

Draco must have liked what he saw as well, because Harry thought that he looked just as mesmerised by Harry. Harry did not think he looked any different than any other day, except that he had decided not to wear glasses. Hermione and Ginny had tried to get something done with his hair, but as usual, it had been a hopeless case. They had ended up washing it again to get the gunk out of his hair and let it dry naturally. In fact, Harry thought he looked a wreck, but was not about to care too much about it.

Draco smiled at him and gently touched his hair. "What did you do? It looks somewhat tamed."

"It does?" Harry asked surprised.

"No. I'm just trying to make you feel better. I can see it in your eyes that you're self-conscious about something, so it's probably your hair."

"You know me too well," Harry murmured, leaning in closer.

"More than I'd care to know you," Draco teased. "But really, you look smashing today, Harry." The pair kissed affectionately. When they pulled away, Draco placed his hands on either side of Harry's neck, and put their foreheads together.

"Harry!" Hermione shrieked from the other tent. Harry swore under his breath.

"This has been a nightmare so far, Harry. Do you think it's too late now to elope?"

"Now that I've been caught in the act, yes, I believe it is too late. Sorry, Draco."

Harry kissed him again. "See you in twenty minutes." And he ducked down to begin crawling back, but Draco called his name. "Yes?" he looked up.

"Harry… I just," Draco had a look of such determination and something else that there wasn't a name for, but Harry understood completely. Harry nodded to it. "I'm ready for this. Really."

Harry smiled. "Me too."

Before crawling through to his tent, Harry looked up at the crowds of people. There was a woman in a velvet, purple cloak, a hood covering her head. He stopped to look at her better, and gasped quietly when she turned to him. It was Narcissa Malfoy. She had not sent an RSVP, so Harry had not expected her to come.

Draco pushed on his butt and kicked his foot. "Get going you great pillock!" he hissed from behind. Harry did not take his eyes from Narcissa, and could have sworn that she had a hint of a smile upon hearing her son's voice before turning away.

Harry hurried through into his own tent. Ron and Hermione were waiting impatiently for him there, but none of the admonitions Hermione had waiting for him were enough to make him sorry for sneaking over to Draco's tent. He felt ready for the ceremony and for the night. Instead of pacing until the ritual, he sat quietly in a chair by the wall closest to Draco until it was time. The parchment which they had ceased to use since the night of the last battle was lying placidly in his lap with Draco's writing scrawled across it.

_If I could have a colour, hold it, or own it, I would want emerald. I dream of emerald at night, and when I wake, I see it in your eyes. When we walk down the aisle, part of it will become mine. When you say you'll be mine forever, I'll own it all. And I won't give it up or forget about it until the day I die._

Harry could not think of an adequate reply, so he wrote: _I love you, too._

_Simpleton._

And then it was time.

The ceremony was held in the midst of a copse of trees, flowers were clinging to the branches above for a natural roof. The chairs the guests sat in were wooden and white, and the scenery behind Dumbledore, who was marrying them, was the lake. The sun was making its way down behind the mountains, and the skies were clear. Dumbledore smiled around at everybody in his majestic mahogany robes, putting on a nice façade for the occasion, but everybody knew that he was nearing his end. He wheezed when he breathed and limped from his injuries sustained in the battle. His body was too old and too weak to heal properly anymore, even with the help of magic.

Harry stood impatiently as the music started. He and Draco had decided against anybody else walking down the aisle besides them, as Draco did not want to ask any of his old Slytherin friends to stand for him. Ron stood near Dumbledore holding the wedding bands. Finally, Hermione made a face at him from her seat and he walked forward. Draco came into view from the other side and they smiled at each other. Draco looked happy and elegant in his robes. They were a dark blue with silver trimming. Harry's were a lighter shade of blue with the same silver trimming. The robes were not billowing as most designs of wizard's robes were, but more form-fitting, and their trousers were black. They were each holding a string of magical beads, radiant in their purple colour. When they were within feet of each other, they held the beads out and they drew towards each other like magnets and bonded. Harry and Draco were now joined by one string of the magical beads.

Turning down the centre, they each held their end of the beads. But as they got to their halfway mark, Draco leaned his head back, switched to hold the beads with his left hand and lifted Harry's robe away from his backside. He made a satisfied noise. Harry glanced nervously at him, and tried moving them along faster as they had almost made a complete stop. "Draco," he hissed.

"I was worried about that when I designed those trousers, but your arse looks really good in them. I must know your body pretty well."

Harry's face flamed red as the immediate crowd around them laughed. "Now, Draco?" Harry felt himself whining and pulled on the beads. Draco grinned unabashedly around at everybody and lifted Harry's robe all the way.

"Look at that arse. I'm a lucky man, no?"

Colin's camera flashed, and Harry had a distinct bad feeling about it. By now, Harry was beyond mortified and pulled his robe back down. "I can't believe you," Harry hissed, but he was fighting a smile as people whistled at him.

"Ah, they agree with me," Draco cooed as he continued down the aisle. "We all know you have a good arse."

Dumbledore smiled at them as they took their places in front of them. Harry smiled at him and then looked down embarrassed. "Ready, boys?" Dumbledore asked a twinkle in his eye.

"Ready for anything," Draco smiled, finally settling down.

"Good. Raise your beads, and we shall start."

"I'm ready for something to drink," Draco murmured against Harry's ear. They were dancing to a slow song with only a few other couples on the dance floor with them.

"Me too," Harry replied.

"Besides, my feet can take only so much trampling," Draco mock-winced, "I think we should have paid for your dance lessons."

"I'm not a bad dancer!" Harry exclaimed.

Draco raised a brow. "Tell that to my feet." He pulled away. "I'll get us something to drink. Even if my feet weren't bloody and bruised, I would still want to quit right now, so stop looking like a kicked puppy."

Harry grinned, glancing away for a moment. "Sorry," he apologised.

Draco kissed him. "It's quite all right, Harry. I'll be back."

While Draco was gone, Harry decided to mingle with his guests off the dance floor. Tonks and a few other Aurors came to give him their congratulations, and a few housemates pulled him to their table. He sat rehashing events in school for quite sometime, and only when Seamus suggested playing an impromptu game of 'I've never,' did Harry leave. After all, Draco had been gone for nearly a half hour now, and Harry could not see a sign of his blond head anywhere.

"Hermione, Ron!" he called to his friends, who were dancing together, "have you seen Draco?"

"Not since he left you," Ron called back.

"Oh, okay… thanks."

Confused, Harry set off in the opposite direction where the table with drinks were laid. He asked the bartender if he had noticed which way Draco had gone, but the bartender said Draco had never come to get drinks. Trying not to let worry get the best of him, he strained his neck over the crowd in attempt to see him. "I saw him go in his tent," a voice said behind him. Harry spun around and was quite surprised to see Pansy Parkinson scowling at him. "Don't look so surprised, Potter, I did receive an invitation."

"I never expected any of his Slytherin friends to show up."

"Despite who Draco has chosen as his mate, I would still support him. We have been friends since we were children."

"Yes well…"

"You don't need excuses not to talk to me. Go find him if you must. I thought I would inform you of where he was." Pansy shrugged and turned away to join her date, who Harry saw was Blaise Zabini. Blaise scowled at Harry and linked his arm through Pansy's. Shaking off his encounter with the Slytherins, Harry pushed through the crowd toward the tents. As he approached, he could hear Draco's low voice speaking with somebody, though it did not dawn on Harry who he could possibly be speaking to until he heard a woman's voice.

Narcissa.

Immediately, his hackles were raised, as he had already forgotten that Narcissa was present.

"This conversation is heading in circles, mother."

"I am just trying to make sure you have not made a mistake, Draco. Do you truly love him, or has he told you he loves you so much that you have started to believe you feel the same?"

Harry stopped in his tracks, pausing to listen just outside of the door. "I love him," Draco said firmly. "I did not make a mistake. And whether I did or not is now too late to consider. He is my husband, and I will honour it, just as he will."

"Do you not hold any allegiance to your father, Draco? Harry Potter is the reason he is dead."

"And for that I am sorry, mother, but I will not let you bring father into it."

"He has always been a part of it, Draco!" Narcissa said hotly. "Will you deny me as you denied him before he died?"

"So that is what this is about. You're scared I will reject you."

"Is it so much of a mother to ask for her son?"

Harry moved as close as he dared, waiting for Draco's answer. If it made everybody happy, he would like for Draco to reconcile with his mother. "I will stop rejecting you once you stop rejecting Harry." There was a pause. "Whether you like it or not, Harry is my life. I made a promise to him today and I don't intend to break it. I do miss you, mother, but you need to get over your own pride and accept my husband. If you can't say you do, then I have nothing further to say. Harry will probably be wondering where I've gone."

Harry panicked, not wanting Draco to know he had heard part of their conversation. He quietly hurried into his own tent, and watched nervously as Draco went back to the reception. Narcissa appeared moments later, stopping for a few moments to watch him walk away, before her face turned hard and she moved toward Hogsmeade. He waited for a few moments before sneaking from the tent. He moved to the edge and quietly watched her retreating form before heading in the direction Draco had left.

The blond was now at the bar, retrieving two drinks. Harry approached from behind, trailing a hand along his shoulders.

"I've been looking all over for you, Draco," he murmured quietly. "I thought my groom had disappeared," he smiled softly as Draco turned to him. His face was stitched with annoyance and anger, and he tried to smile, but it was forced. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine, Harry, don't worry about it."

Quite suddenly, Draco kissed him, his arms going around his shoulders, the drinks sloshing to the ground behind him. When they pulled away, Draco was trembling. "Are you sure you're okay?" Harry whispered. "You can tell me."

"I'm fine. I just wanted to kiss you."

"Okay…. I love you, Draco," he said with deliberateness.

Draco visibly loosened his muscles. "I love you." Then he laughed and pulled him to sit with Snape. Later that night, Harry sat back in his chair and looked up at all the fairy lights that were twinkling overhead, sighing with contentment. It was getting very late, and Harry was getting a bit anxious to get to his and Draco's flat to have their private celebration. Then it was off to Majorca for the three-week honeymoon.

"Knut for your thoughts," Draco whispered into his ear, coming from behind and wrapping his arms around Harry's shoulders.

Harry turned his head slightly towards his new husband. "I have always been under the impression that my thoughts would be more than a Knut."

Draco gave a low chuckle, sending shivers down Harry's spine. "Fine, a sickle, and that's all you'll be getting for your thoughts."

"I was thinking along the lines of a galleon, but I suppose that a sickle would have to do. I was thinking about the celebration we'll have at our flat tonight."

"Oh, really?" Draco whispered, kissing the place beneath Harry's ear. "What do you say we get a head jump on that then? All of our guests seem to have consumed way too much alcohol. I don't think they'd mind if we left now… or even notice for that matter." Draco kissed Harry's pulse point, just underneath his jaw. "Besides, I don't know if I can wait much longer to bugger you into the bed."

"Mmm…" Harry sighed, leaning his head away from Draco to give him better access. "What makes you think you're on top tonight?"

"Because I said so and because…. You're. So. Damn. Sexy." Draco punctuated each word with a kiss. The blond pulled away and smirked. "That's reason enough for me to want to bugger you in our bed so hard tonight that you won't be able to get out in the morning."

"Pity… then I suppose you'll be going to Majorca without me, won't you?"

"Hmm," Draco pondered. "Well, we'll jump that hurdle when we come to it." Draco pulled Harry to his feet, taking the taller man in a long, deep kiss. The crowd that were still gathered broke out into applause and catcalls. Harry was blushing by the time they pulled away, but Draco gave a low, gracious bow. "I'm glad you all enjoyed our little public display, but I am afraid that my new husband and I will be taking the rest of the show to our bedroom just now. And sorry, the show is sold out, although I know how so many of you wanted to see us having wild, passionate animal sex—"

"Draco!" called a scandalised voice from the crowd. Harry smiled, recognising Hermione's voice. "Tease! First you show us his arse, and now this!" somebody else called out, and Harry could have sworn that it was Seamus Finnigan, but could not really be sure.

Draco sighed, shifting restlessly on his feet.

"What?" Harry turned on him.

"You're such a complete and utter woman," he murmured under his breath.

"If you want to bugger me into the bed tonight, then I suggest you shut your mouth, otherwise, it'll be me who buggers you into the bed."

Draco rolled his eyes, a smile twitching the corners of his mouth. "Scary," he said tonelessly.

"Come on! It's your wedding night, quit fighting!" called out Tonks cheerily.

"You're quite right, cousin!" Draco called back, then turned back to Harry, dipped and kissed him passionately. Harry immediately felt his indignant anger dissipate and he felt quite ready to have Draco be top that night. With that, they hurried as quickly as they could to the thestral drawn carriage that would take them to the edge of Hogwarts, sparks from wands shooting overhead, calls of congratulations following after them.

* * *

**A/N:** I would really appreciate it if you all took the time to leave a comment. This fic is really nearing the end now, and I would like to know how I'm doing. On that note, I would like to say that if you want no more angst or drama, this is the end of the story for you. But, if you think you can stomach it, continue reading. I assure you that _Lacuna_ has many good things in store. :)


	21. Unsettled

**A/N:** Thanks to my beta, Padfoot'sBitch and to all of those who continue to read and review. Notes about Harry and Draco's relationship at the end!

* * *

**Remember You**  
_Chapter Twenty-One_

_Two years and three months later _

November 2000

"So… what do you think?"

"What do I think of what?"

"What do you think about what I asked you about last night?"

"Oh…. I think you're mad."

"Mad in a good way, because I can't really see a down side to it."

Draco sighed, letting his head drop into his hands. "I can, Harry. You're completely and utterly mad to want children right now."

Harry sat up straight in his chair indignantly. "Why is it so impossible for you to see us with children right now?"

"Because," Draco waved his right hand around for emphasis, "I'm not yet done with the Auror program, and won't be for several months. You can't lift your left arm all the way, and I'm sorry but I suspect that you never will be able to do so. How do you expect to take care of a child while I'm at work, all by yourself?"

"I can manage. There's magic to help with the things I can't do properly. Besides, I can lift things just fine. It's not like I'll need to bend my arm much to raise a child. A disability as minor as mine has never stopped anybody from having a child, Draco. Besides, you will be around to help. You're not at work all the time."

Harry stood from the kitchen table to refill his coffee cup. Draco put his head in his arms, thinking quietly, listening to Harry's movements behind him. "Unless you just don't want to have children anymore," Harry said casually as he closed a bag of bread.

Draco's head snapped up from the table. "Don't be daft, Harry. You've known since the beginning that I want children." The blond stood and walked to Harry, wrapping his arms around his waist from behind. "I have always entertained the idea that someday, we'll have three or four children together. The first will be a girl, of course…. I'm not fussed about the rest, just as long as there is at least one boy in the litter."

Harry smiled and turned around in his husband's arms. "What makes you think the first will be a girl?"

"I don't think, Harry, I know it will be a girl."

"That's strange, really. I always thought you would want a boy first to carry on the family name."

"Well," Draco whispered, brushing his fingertips along Harry's neck, and letting his lips follow in soft kisses. "That would be kind of pointless since our children's names will be Potter-Malfoy."

"_My_ name first? But you know that if they don't like the hyphenated name when they grow up, they'll most likely drop the Malfoy and use Potter."

"Put the good before the bad, I say. I'm proud of my name, don't get me wrong…. I just don't want my children to be judged wrongly because of their last name. If somebody sees our daughter's last name is Potter-Malfoy, they'll see the Potter first and say, 'well, she's a Potter; she must be a nice girl.' If they saw the Malfoy first… well, she would get those same cold looks that I have always received. If I were of a different personality, I would take your name in a heartbeat. But I was raised to be proud of the name, so I'm not going to give it up. When our children grow up, it'll be entirely up to them to take whichever name they want. You never know, they might keep both."

Harry smiled fondly and kissed Draco's forehead. "Look at you, talking about our non-existent children. I'd say you are ready for them."

"Harry," Draco sighed, pulling away. "This—"

"Draco," Harry interrupted, "it doesn't mean we have to have a child right away. Let's just make an appointment with a specialist now to look at the different ways to have a child. We can just decide on the one that we like best and then we'll be prepared for when we are truly ready. Draco… _please_. It would be just to see our prospects."

"Fine," Draco relented. "But I'm not promising anything."

Harry's face immediately lit up and he hugged Draco around the neck. "That's so great, Draco! Hermione will be so glad!"

The blond pulled away with a raised eyebrow. "What does she have to do with any of this?"

"Oh… er—nothing, really. She will just be happy to hear that we're at least considering."

"_Harry_…."

"Oh, fine… she made us an appointment with the best healer there is for these sorts of procedures."

"She _what_?" Draco stepped away further.

Harry shrugged. "I mean… it's my fault really. I've sort of said a few times when I've been over there that I've wanted to start having kids, and she looked up a specialist for us and made an appointment for a consultation."

"When is it?" Draco sighed.

"Not for another three weeks. He is a really busy man, you know. It would have been a two month wait, but apparently, he's been rather anxious to help us have children ever since he heard of our marriage. He has made an exception for us."

"Bloody wonderful… he makes an exception because you're famous and I have an infamous father."

"Don't be like that, Draco. He's done amazing things for couples who can't have children, and for gay couples. Draco, this means a lot to me."

"I know," Draco murmured, touching Harry's cheek lightly. "I said I would go. I just think it's too soon to have children. We're only twenty."

"What's your point? We got married at eighteen… straight out of Hogwarts!"

"Okay, point taken. Look, I have to go to work now. I'll see you later tonight. I don't know what time I'll be home. They have us doing practical work today."

"Be careful," Harry said wistfully.

"Always," Draco smirked, kissed Harry's cheek and Disapparated.

Harry sighed, waved his wand at the kitchen counter cleaning everything up, and went into the sitting room to wait for his time to go to work. Over the past two years of marriage, he and Draco had fallen into a routine, and Harry was getting quite tired of it. As much as he hated to admit it, Harry was more of the housewife than he would have ever liked. Draco had a regular full-time career as an Auror-in training, while Harry worked part-time at Fred and George's joke shop in Diagon Alley, and sometimes Hogsmeade if need be. When Harry was not working, he was either at home or visiting acquaintances for a cup of tea. Over the past two years, spending so much time doing domestic chores, he discovered that he was quite talented in everyday household charms. (They had come in quite handy when Draco had decided that he was tired of the white carpet in the living room, and spilled his red wine on the floor. Draco had been sorely disappointed when Harry had waved his wand at it, and it had disappeared). When he was not playing the dutiful house husband, Hogwarts was a regular stop for the former Gryffindor. Sirius was on his fifth year as professor of Defence Against the Dark Arts. Remus was often at Hogwarts as well, but did not live there anymore, but in Black Manor. He had acquired a job through the Ministry of Magic to educate witches and wizards about werewolves, and was currently in the middle of working on a rather substantial manuscript. The werewolf and Hermione could often be found together in the Manor, going over facts; concerning werewolves or other matters, Harry knew not. But he rather suspected that they discussed S.P.E.W, or other important matters that Hermione had immersed herself into since becoming youngest Junior Undersecretary to the Minister of Magic.

She had helped Holden Hooper become the present Minister of Magic and was still enjoying her new position as Junior Undersecretary. They had made many reforms in the wizarding world that had helped to rebuild after the war. Magical creatures such as centaurs were no longer considered inferior to wizards in the law books of the Ministry. House elves, much to the consternation of many old blue-blood wizarding families, were given free reign to leave a home whenever they wanted. Of course, most chose to stay, but Harry heard from Hermione of one or two who had left their Masters and were now working for the Ministry with pay, vacation, and benefits. Hermione seemed particularly happy with the way her life was going, especially since Ron had proposed to her nearly a year earlier.

The couple were to be married in April the following year, and though Ron turned red every time it was mentioned, Harry could tell that his best friend had never been any happier. The two friends made it a ritual to meet every Saturday night in the Leaky Cauldron, the Three Broomsticks, or each other's homes to talk. At these times, Ron would ask Harry in a hushed voice how he had managed the stress of preparing for marriage. Harry would laugh, but it would always be in the back of his mind that there had been a war at the time, so had not had too much time to dwell on it and get nervous. So, he would just answer like this, "I handled it because I reminded myself that I was marrying the person I loved most in the world. It seems a little silly, but it's the honest to Merlin truth, Ron. It won't seem so bad later." The conversation would then digress to discussions concerning which Quidditch teams was the best at the moment. Ron always had the inside scoop on Quidditch as he worked in the Department of Magical Games and Sports, and naturally assumed that, most of the time, he won the arguments.

Harry let Ron believe it most of the time. He had begun to secretly root for the Applebee Arrows, but had not broken the news to Ron quite yet.

The old Malfoy grandfather clock chimed nine in Draco's study, breaking Harry from his thoughts. It was Thursday, and he knew that Sirius did not have a class until after lunch, so he Disapparated to the edge of Hogwarts, and began the familiar trek to the school. The halls of Hogwarts were mostly deserted as classes were currently in session, so Harry did not meet any problems, except for the staircase that moved while he was on it, causing him to take an extra five minute detour to Sirius's office.

When the young man arrived, he could hear his godfather humming a Weird Sisters' tune from inside. He gently knocked and opened the door. Sirius looked up from filing some papers and smiled warmly. The older man flicked some errant hair out of his eyes and stood straight. "Harry… this is a nice surprise. You haven't been to see me in a while."

"Four days," Harry said dryly, sitting in his favourite chair.

"Yes, well," Sirius replied, sitting behind his desk. "All the same, it seems longer than that."

"Flattered." Harry rolled his eyes.

"So, have you asked Draco about the consultation yet?"

"Just this morning actually—"

"And?"

Harry grinned. "I have him in a choke hold. There's no way he'll say no to children after we see the healer."

"Are you putting a guilt trip on him, Harry?" Sirius tried to frown as he said this, but the corners of his mouth turned up in a small smile. "Because if you put one on him now, the one you'll give yourself later when he's miserable with children, will be gigantic."

"Come off it, Sirius. You know he wants them just as much as I do. He'll love our child even more than me, you can bet on it."

Sirius smiled. "Yes, I'm sure he or she will be loved and spoiled more than anybody could imagine. I mean, with two fathers, Remus and I, Ron and Hermione, maybe a grandmother if she so chooses to be in its life, plus countless others. Besides, who couldn't love the spawn of a Potter and a Malfoy put together?" Sirius feigned tiredness. "Merlin… we'll have our work cut out for us."

"You're not the one who has to raise it."

"And I'm thankful for that."

The two men smiled and then finished out the morning, speaking of nothing in significance. Every once in a while, Harry would reflect and think how lucky he was that these conversations no longer inevitably turned to Voldemort. As godfather and godson bid goodbye after a lunch together, Harry thought happily how good his life on the whole had turned out to be. There were drawbacks, of course, but he was finding ways to deal with them.

The next three weeks before the appointment went by amazingly slow for Harry. It was the same boring routine that which Draco never seemed to tire. They would wake, Draco would shower while Harry made breakfast, and they would eat together and talk about something boring that occurred at Draco's job. The only reason that Harry found it boring, really, was because he was not allowed to be an Auror and was still a bit sulky over the fact. He hoped that he would one day get over it for Draco's sake, since the blond seemed to sulk a bit himself whenever Harry had to feign his interest.

After breakfast, Draco would Disapparate, sometimes remembering to kiss Harry goodbye, but mostly not. Most of the time, Draco would retreat to his study to do only he knew what, and would forget to tell Harry that he was leaving altogether. The only reason Harry knew was because he could hear the resulting 'pop' from Apparition.

Then Harry would go to work if he was scheduled, come home, eat a solitary dinner, and then wake to Draco dragging himself into bed after midnight. Draco would sometimes try to rouse Harry in hopes for sex, but Harry would turn over and feign sleep. In truth, Harry was not in the mood much anymore.

It had not always been like this, Harry remembered. When they had first married, they were in bed together at every possible moment. They had never been able to keep their hands off each other. The 'honeymoon phase' as Harry had heard it referred to, had taken over a year to wear off. Eventually, Draco had become so involved with his work that he rarely spent time with his husband.

Harry now truly felt like a bitter housewife. All he needed was a box of chocolates, a bottle of cheap wine and a glass.

Then, rather recently, the plan to have a child occurred to Harry, and he had not stopped talking to Hermione about it. The thought of a child brought new life inside of Harry. To him there was nothing better than the thought of having a child with Draco.

Harry would never tell Draco that he wanted to have a child because he was so lonely.

When the morning of the appointment came, Harry was beside himself with excitement. Not only was he spending the entire day with Draco, but they were looking into the possibility of having a child. Draco was dragging behind a little, taking forever in picking out suitable Muggle clothing. The doctor served both the wizarding and Muggle worlds, so it was required to wear Muggle clothing at the appointments.

"Come on, Draco! We need to leave right now to make it on time!" Harry called from the living room. Draco was still in the bedroom, dressing.

"Hold your knickers on, Harry. You know we'll be kept waiting for at least ten minutes. That's how Healers work."

"He's also a Doctor."

"Well, we're wizards, so we'll call him a Healer." Draco walked into the living room, wearing a dark blue cashmere jumper with dark grey trousers. Harry had been dressed for hours now, in Molly Weasley's latest jumper, which was Ron's least favourite colour, maroon. Draco eyed it doubtfully and shrugged.

"At least there isn't anything on it this time," he muttered.

Harry smiled fondly and approached his husband, eyeing his attire appreciatively. He stopped with his hands resting on Draco's hips. "What?" Draco asked, brow furrowed.

"I've nearly forgotten how good you look out of your Auror's robes. It's been so long since I've seen you in anything else."

Draco looked worried for a moment, but the look passed so quickly that Harry could not be sure it had been. "Well, let's go then." The blond summoned his new dragonhide jacket, his old Slytherin scarf and put them on to help fight the cold. He also summoned Harry's noticeably less fancy jacket and his Gryffindor scarf and wrapped it around the darker man. Draco wrapped his arms around Harry's shoulders and pulled him close. "I don't much feel like Apparating alone this morning," he whispered, giving Harry a sweet kiss. With that, they Disapparated with a 'pop,' led by Draco into a back alley of the clinic. The two young men hurried around to the front, holding hands, and fighting against the harsh November wind.

Draco checked in at the front desk while Harry hung their coats and scarves up on the coat rack. They sat together next to another gay couple, who were holding a small bundle that was cooing.

"I'm assuming that the doctor helped you with her," Harry commented, pointing to the bundle of pink blankets.

The man closest to Harry turned and smiled. The man was of a medium build. He had a day's old stubble on his face, dark brown eyes, and a dazzling smile. "Yes, he did. This is actually our third. We're just coming for a check up on little Seraphina."

"Seraphina?" Draco asked sharply. "That's a terribly common name, don't you think?"

Harry turned to him and glared. However, both fathers of the child named Seraphina chuckled softly. "Both of our mothers thought the same thing, actually," said the other man, who had sandy blond hair, hazel eyes and a large muscular build. "They said it about every one of our children's names, but it doesn't faze us, really. Anyway, you two look familiar…" he faded off. Harry made sure his fringe was covering his scar.

"I'm Malfoy, Draco Malfoy. Malfoy-Potter, actually." Draco stuck out his hand and shook both of their hands. "This messy haired pillock with me is my husband, Harry Potter-Malfoy."

"Oh, of course, you two were all over the papers a few years ago when you were married. By the way, I'm Teheran Flint," introduced the one holding the baby, "and this is my husband, Rodouin Diggle.

"So, are you here for a first child?" Teheran asked, shifting the baby in his arms.

"Yes," Harry responded quickly. "Though Draco is a bit more reluctant about it. We're mostly here for a consultation. We want to see the options that are out there for us."

"I'm afraid you're in for a mighty shock then," said Teheran gravely. "There aren't many ways outside of adoption."

"Don't get their hopes down now. I'm sure they'll find a way," Rodouin smiled. "Draco, why don't you hold Seraphina to get the feeling of it?" Rodouin picked up Seraphina, and placed her in a startled Draco's arms. Draco stared down at her, wide-eyed for a few moments before shifting the small bundle closer to his body as if protecting her. Harry leaned into Draco's shoulder and moved the blanket down so that he could get a better view of the little girl. When he moved the blanket, she turned her big blue eyes up to Draco, smiled, and cooed happily.

"Wow," Draco breathed, rubbing the girl underneath her chin with the tip of his finger, making her squirm. Seraphina grabbed his finger and tugged. Harry looked to his husband and delightfully found that Draco looked extremely touched.

"She's beautiful," Harry said, smiling.

"Thank you," replied both men at the same time.

"Messrs. Potter and Malfoy."

They looked up at the sound of their names and saw an aging man in Muggle doctor's clothing. The healer had greying black hair that was cut short and was slightly spiky. His nose was red on the tip and kind of pudgy, fitting his round, pink face. He also had a bit of a belly rounding out over his trousers, protruding from his doctor's jacket.

Harry and Draco stood up after Teheran took his daughter back. "Follow me," continued the doctor, and they followed him into a medium-sized Muggle doctor's office. After Harry closed the door, they formerly introduced themselves. "I'm Healer Angus Widduling. It's very nice to meet the both of you." Harry and Draco murmured similar greetings, both shaking hands with him. "As you can see," Healer Widduling continued after introductions were through, "this office is mostly used for Muggles. We won't be conversing in here of course. We'll be going into the next room."

With a wave of his wand, a wall opened behind the two chairs on the back wall, and Widduling stepped straight through the furniture as if it was not there. Harry shrugged and followed both the Healer and Draco. They stepped into a huge room that was clearly magical. Harry could feel the magic seeping out of everything in the room. On the back wall were potion ingredients of every kind on shelves. In the middle of the shelves of ingredients was a door, no doubt leading to another room full of potion ingredients. On the left wall, was a fireplace, a desk, and a large standing shelf that reached the ceiling and took up a great portion of the wall, holding files upon files of information, concerning what, Harry could only imagine.

In the middle of the room was a large, circular conference table with twelve chairs around it. To the right were two plush couches on either side of a small alcove, in which were two doors. One door was ajar, the room containing a solitary bed.

Draco elbowed him in the side and pointed to the open door. "Wanking room," he whispered with a mischievous smirk.

Both the Healer and Harry coughed. "Anyway," Widduling commented, flicking his wand at the desk. Two books flew towards them. One was a rather large tome, while the other was considerably smaller. "First things first, I suppose. We need to discuss the procedure with which you are most interested. Would you like to use just one of your samples, or would you like to have both of your genes in the child?"

"Both," replied Harry automatically, while Draco nodded slightly.

"Okay, then you have one of two choices. The first one is fairly new, but is not very popular. It has only been done three times since it was developed."

"Was it safe?"

"There were a few complications, but all three made it through, though one of the babies had a Muggle affliction called Down's syndrome. The wizarding world has not had a case of it in over 800 years."

"What was the procedure?" Draco asked impatiently.

"Would either of you two be willing to carry the child within yourself?" the Healer asked mildly, flipping to a page in the smaller book.

Harry choked on air, suddenly remembering his sex talk with Sirius on his seventeenth birthday. Sirius had laughed at the idea of a man becoming pregnant, and both had decided that it would be distinctly unpleasant. Harry still came to that conclusion now.

Before Harry could get one word of protest out however, Draco was inquiring about the procedure and what had to be done. "It's a rather new development," explained Widduling. "We have just developed a way to grow a uter—"

"Hold on!" Harry interrupted, and then apologised for doing so. "Draco, are _you_ planning on carrying our child?"

"Don't be ridiculous. I'm in training to be an Auror. I was thinking that you could do it. You seem to like doing the womanly chores around the house."

Harry felt his eye twitch, and he clenched his jaw with anger and frustration. "No, Draco, you're just too blind to see what's really in front of you. If Hermione wouldn't protest so much, I'd much like to get a house-elf. I do house work out of necessity. Do you want to live in a sty? I _abhor_ house work, Draco. What makes you think that I would want to carry a baby?"

Draco raised an eyebrow. "Abhor? That's a new one for you. Have you been studying the dictionary while I'm at work?"

Harry definitely felt his eye twitching now. "You are so completely…." Harry spluttered for a word, "_ignorant_!"

"Mr. Potter, Mr. Malfoy, if I may interrupt. Perhaps this fight is something you would like to finish in the privacy of your own home. For now, I can suggest that we step away from the option of male pregnancy, and move onto the second option that I believe you two will find much more to your liking. That option is to acquire several eggs from a female donor, enter one of your samples into each egg so that the genes may take over, and become the eggs' new genes. Then, we fertilise the eggs with the other samples, implant several off the fertilised eggs back into a surrogate mother, and hope some attach."

"You can do that?" Harry asked disbelievingly. "I mean… change the DNA in an egg so that it's Draco's if you put his sperm into it?"

"Yes. Mr. Malfoy's DNA will take over, but the egg will keep the needed X chromosomes that the woman gives in conception."

"So, is this a Muggle or wizarding procedure?" Draco asked curiously.

"Wizards have had this procedure for nearly 300 years. Muggles are only just discovering it, and it is not widely known among their public yet, but I am sure that it will be in due time."

"This is the one of two methods that we can use?" Harry confirmed.

"Yes, and it seemed as though you were not too fond of male pregnancy?"

"Not at all," Harry confirmed with a firm shake of his head. "I think I like option two better.

"Yes, I suppose it will have to do," Draco sighed. "I'd rather not bring any woman into this at all—"

"Oh, even with male pregnancy, you need an egg donor, Mr. Malfoy."

"Yes, well, that's where the job ends for them, isn't it? What if the woman gets attached?"

"The woman knows what is involved and expected of her. She knows that the child is not hers. She is just the carrier. The child will in no way have any of her genes."

"Then what's in it for her?" Harry asked.

Widduling smiled benignly. "The pleasure of knowing she is giving a childless couple what they want… and, a large pile of galleons of course, which is the next thing that we need to discuss. How much are you willing to spend?"

"As much as needed," Draco replied.

"Good, good," the Healer said briskly. "Now, in this pamphlet, there is a list of women who are willing to be surrogate mothers. The general idea is to pick somebody whom you think you may be able to get along with for nine or ten months."

"Hold on a minute," Draco said sharply. "I was under the impression that this was nothing but a consultation. Why are we making decisions like this already?"

"Well, Mr. Malfoy," said Widduling, generally surprised, "_I_ was under the impression that you were interested in having a child now."

"I only came here today because I thought it would satisfy Harry's need to see the procedures available and help us plan for a child in the future. If you expect us to use that wanking bedroom today, then I believe it's time for us to leave, Harry."

Harry stayed planted firmly in his chair as Draco stood and began walking away. "Harry?" Draco inquired, turning around once he was a few feet away.

"Draco," Harry began, turning slowly in his seat to face his husband, "I _want_ a child now."

"Frankly, Harry, that's not going to happen. I'm not through with my Auror training. I don't want a child right now."

"What about what I want?"

"Harry," Draco sighed, "give it up. We're not having any children now. I have other things to worry about. Come on, let's go home. Thank you for your time, Healer."

As Draco re-entered the Muggle office, Harry turned back around and hung his head slightly. "I'm sorry about wasting your time, Healer. I was positive he would change his mind."

"Nonsense, this has happened before and this won't be the last either. Don't worry, Mr. Potter, sooner or later, your husband will realise he's not thinking of your needs." Harry let out a snort of laughter. "In the meantime, I will make a time slot available to you whenever he changes his mind about this. If I am not able to make an opening in my schedule, one of the nurses will attend to you. Feel free to owl or Floo me at any time."

"Thank you," Harry said sincerely, shook his hand and left for the lobby. It was nearly empty excepting for one Muggle couple and Draco. The blond had already put on his coat and Slytherin scarf and was holding out Harry's wraps. Harry took them rather roughly and put them on, and stalked out of the doctor's office, leaving Draco to follow. When they arrived home, Harry put his outer clothing away and went into the kitchen to make hot chocolate.

The former Gryffindor sat down to watch Muggle television when the hot beverage was done and was quite content to sit and not talk about anything. But Draco dropped down beside him.

"Could you make me some of that?"

"Make it yourself."

"Please, Harry?" Draco whined.

"Oh, for Merlin… have mine, you selfish, undeserving, inattentive piece of Slytherin flobberworm slime."

"Well…" Draco furrowed his brow. "I think that may have been a little harsh and not to mention uncalled for."

"_Uncalled for_? It was very called for. Use that oh-so-smart brain of yours, Draco, and think about how I might be feeling right now. For the past year, we have fallen into a routine that you don't seem to mind, but I _do_. I hate it."

"Don't you mean 'abhor?'" Draco smirked as he drank the hot chocolate.

"Be quiet, I'm trying to say something here. You're always at work, and we never see each other because you have to be dedicated to your career from eight in the morning to midnight. That's not normal! I tend to get the feeling that you avoid me deliberately. Then, when we do get to spend time together, you constantly make me feel worthless, as if I like to do what I do everyday. If I could have your job, I would take it in a heartbeat. I hate working part-time. I hate not having anything important to do. I hate cleaning all the time…. I hate being alone all the time… everyday. I want somebody here with me if I can't work in the career of my choice. If that person can't be you, then I want a child. I just… I want somebody who will be there for me all the time, even if they aren't aware of it –"

"Harry," Draco said quietly. "I've always been there for you –"

Harry paused. He felt silly for saying these things, but frustration had been slowly building in him for months now. "You've been distant. And… you're inconsiderate."

"Well… I don't mean to be distant. I'm sorry; I don't want you to be unhappy. I'm sorry that you think I've been inconsiderate." Draco leaned forward and kissed Harry softly. "Let me make it up to you."

Harry did not want to have sex just then, but he let Draco lead him to the bedroom. Harry did not want to kiss Draco, but he matched the kiss to every touch, so that his kiss was tender when Draco's was, or it was rough when Draco's was, or passionate when Draco's was passionate. Harry did not want Draco inside of him, but he wanted Draco to feel his loneliness and understand his despair. So, he clung to Draco in desperation, murmuring words of encouragement and love, meeting Draco's every thrust. Harry was bitter in the back of his mind for Draco being on top again, but wrapped his legs around Draco's waist anyhow, and rode it out until they were both on the brink of ecstasy and fell gasping to the bed beneath them.

Afterwards, Harry lay limply in Draco's arms, letting Draco lazily kiss his chest and neck. Harry did not want to be like this anymore. He wanted to reciprocate Draco's actions. Draco kissed Harry softly and nuzzled Harry's cheek with his nose.

"I love you, Harry," Draco whispered.

Harry pressed his hand to Draco's cheek and turned his back on his husband. He wanted to say it back. Of course Harry loved Draco. He had for years, and would forever, but he did not feel like saying it.

When Draco spoke next, it was anxiously. Harry felt Draco's hand touch him lightly on his bare back. "Harry? What's wrong?"

"I've already said what's wrong, Draco, and I'm not going to say it again. Sex isn't the answer to everything and it won't change my mind about anything."

"I never said it would. I –"

"I don't want to talk about it anymore. I've said my peace. It's up to you to tell me what you want and when you want it."

A long silence followed. Finally, Draco sighed and Harry felt him leave the bed, and heard him leave the room. Harry heard the television being clicked on and then the volume lowering. It was Harry's turn to sigh. Draco only watched the telly if Harry was watching it. If Draco watched it by himself, he did not want to be near Harry or he was having trouble sleeping. And since it was only mid-afternoon, Harry had to guess it was the former.

He dressed silently in wizard's clothing, preparing to go into the shop in Diagon Alley to see if George needed any help. Cursing his luck that the fireplace was in the same room as Draco, Harry put on his cloak, fastened it on, and hurried into the living room, hoping to not have to speak to his husband.

"Where are you going?" Draco asked quietly from the couch.

Harry cursed silently as he took a pinch of Floo powder from the mantle. He answered without turning around. "To the shop to see if George needs help – they normally get a shipment of products on Sundays, so I thought I would help out."

"Oh. Okay. I'll see you when you come home then."

Draco's voice sounded small and tired. The sound of it made Harry turn around and study him. He was slouched on the sofa, remote control in hand, sad eyes studying Harry through long lashes, and decidedly messy hair that screamed, 'I just had sex!' And on a second glance, Harry noted that Draco's shirt was turned inside out and backwards, and wore Harry's dirty boxers from yesterday. Harry felt his chest swell with warmth and affection.

"I wore those boxers yesterday," he commented quietly, fighting a small smile.

Draco looked down and shrugged. Harry sighed, put the Floo powder away again, and approached Draco. "Draco, stand up."

Draco obeyed, albeit reluctantly. "Why are you sulking, Malfoy?" Harry asked quietly, turning his chin up.

"I'm not sulking," Draco sulked.

"You're unquestionably sulking, Draco. Now, why are you?"

"You hate me."

"That's ridiculous. Why would you think that?"

"You didn't tell me you loved me."

Harry allowed himself to chuckle softly. "So that's the reason you're out here watching the telly?"

"Mostly, but that's not all of the reason."

"Well, let me put your mind at ease, Draco… I love you. You're incredibly insecure."

"Shut up. You're mocking me."

"I am not…. Look, Draco, we've had a lot of problems lately, and they need to be worked out. I admit that I've been selfish in this child situation, but you have to admit that you have been as well. We're not thinking about each other when we should be. I don't think you're giving me much respect, and maybe you think I'm being inconsiderate when it comes to your career. I understand that you want to be an Auror, and I support that. But Draco, I'll be honest and say that if I don't get your support, I'll go mad. It drives me round the bend that I can't be an Auror. That is all I have ever wanted to do, and for you to sit back and patronise what I do as a result of this injury that I have…. It's not respectful in any aspect."

"I'm sorry," Draco whispered. "I can't help it sometimes."

"What do you mean?"

"It's nothing, Harry. I'll try not to do it anymore. I never meant any of it. About this child – "

"If you don't want to have one right now, I'll understand, but… if you make me wait, then promise me that I'll see more of you around home. Despite everything, I've missed you."

"No worries, Harry," Draco replied, smiling brightly. "I've got it covered. And Harry, you smell like sex and you're still a bit sweaty. I don't think you should go anywhere until after you shower."

Harry undid the clasp on his cloak, letting it puddle on the floor. "Good idea, Draco." Harry smiled at him and kissed him briefly before making his way to the bathroom. He smiled to himself when he heard Draco race toward him.

"May I join you, Harry?"

"That seems kind of silly."

"No, it doesn't. I'm pretty gross myself, and it would save on water if we went in together."

"Only if you let me undress and bathe you completely. You're not allowed to touch me."

"_What_?" Draco exclaimed, appalled.

Harry turned and trailed his fingertip down his chest. "Follow these rules and you may shower with me."

"Fine," Draco sulked.

As it turned out, however, neither one even made it to the shower. Draco lost control of himself as Harry did a slow strip tease, and jumped on him. But, Harry decided that he was not too angry with Draco, because the blond let himself be pushed against the wall, and shagged into complete submission. Both men slumped to the soft, carpeted floor afterwards and did not make it into the shower until some time later.

* * *

**Author notes:** No, I have not turned Harry into a wimpy wife figure. In case you missed it, he's annoyed with Draco, for the reasons stated in the chapter, and he's very very VERY frustrated at not being able to help catch remaining DEs, or any other important work.

Also, the boys were married young. They really did not get a chance to grow up before they were bound together. They'll have to work extra hard to make it work. So, really my reasoning for Draco acting the way he is, is simply that he doesn't really know any other way to act. Harry is his best friend, so will tease him (about being a housewife, etc), but he does not understand that his relationship with Harry is different than that of best friend. Well he does, just... you know. I hope you do. If not, leave a review! If you do, leave a review anyway!


	22. The Last Fight

**A/N:** Thanks to the readers and reviewers! Also to my beta as always.

* * *

**Remember You**  
_Chapter Twenty-Two_

As Christmas neared, the atmosphere in the Potter-Malfoy household had relaxed substantially. Since their trip to the doctor's office, they had worked out more of their problems, and both had given a considerable effort to stick to their solutions. While Harry was happy that Draco made more of an effort to be home more often, he was still a little upset that Draco did not yet want to have a child. He did realise that his reasons for a child were superficial, but when he pushed aside all those reasons, he really did want a child. All his life, he had wanted nothing more than a family. They were young, yes, but he knew they could handle it. After all the two had handled together, a child would be almost easy. Almost. It would be hard, but it would be worth it. So, Harry concluded that if a child was worth having, he or she was also worth waiting for. If Draco needed more time, he would get it.

It was already December fifteenth – only ten days from Christmas, and Harry was fretting because he had not found any suitable gifts for his husband. He had already found gifts for Ron, Hermione, the twins, Sirius, Remus, the rest of the Weasleys, and a few Hogwarts teachers – including Snape, but Draco's gifts seemed unusually difficult to find this year. Harry remembered Draco saying something about needing a new cauldron and potions kit for work, but did not know if he wanted those items as gifts. He considered getting the most expensive cauldron he could buy, as Draco would appreciate that, but still was not entirely sure.

Harry was debating this dilemma while walking down the winding, cobbled street of Diagon Alley. Witches and wizards were bustling about, herding small children around, and doing their own Christmas shopping. It was an unusually busy day, so it was quite the task for the Ministry owl to find Harry among the crowd. When the owl perched on his shoulder, he gave a start and looked up at the stern bird. The animal looked down at him with doleful, yellow eyes, hooting softly. As soon as he untied the letter, the owl took flight again, and disappeared around the building of the Daily Prophet.

Harry curiously opened it in the middle of the street, wondering what the Ministry could possibly want with him.

_Mr. Potter,_

As you may know, there are still active Death Eaters on the loose. While the Aurors have made considerable progress in locating a few of them, and anticipating aggressive acts, there are still planned attacks that we do not hear of until after the fact.

It is regrettable that we did not anticipate the small attack on the Aurors' offices this morning. While no considerable damage has been done to the building, and no death toll to account for, there have been serious injuries.

It is with regret that we inform you that your partner, Mr. Draco Malfoy has been injured and is now in St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. For further information, please come to the hospital at your earliest convenience.

Sincerely,

Hermione E. Granger

Junior Undersecretary to the Minister of Magic 

Harry crumpled the letter in his hand angrily. Hermione had written him this letter as if he were just another person, not her best friend. It was not as if Draco was not her friend either. Should she have not been a bit more emotional about it, and not so business-like? Harry promptly Disapparated to the alley near the entrance to St. Mungo's. He entered hurriedly, asking where Draco was being kept and continued on his way. When he arrived, Harry found that Draco's door was ajar. Inside, curtains surrounded the bed; there was enough of a gap for Harry to recognise Draco's leg hanging of the side of the bed, and hurried inside.

Draco was dozing lightly, so Harry pulled a chair forward and sat next to him. To all appearances, the blond looked okay, so Harry did not let himself despair. Perhaps there was nothing really wrong after all. Harry took Draco's hand in his and kissed it lightly. It woke Draco from his light slumber and he smiled weakly at the darker man.

"Hallo, Harry."

"Draco, what happened? They didn't say anything in the letter I received…" Harry scowled slightly, but pushed away the thought of Hermione.

"It was nothing, really. It was only a group of five Death Eaters that came in. They shot a few curses around and I was unlucky enough to get hit by one. I think they apprehended all the Death Eaters."

"Which curse hit you?"

"They don't know, really."

"Will you be okay?"

"They say I should make a quick recovery, though there are conditions on my release from the hospital."

"And those would be what?"

"I'll have to take a few months off of work. Normally I would argue, but considering that I can't even walk… well, I'm inclined to agree."

"You… you can't _walk_?"

"Yeah, I'm completely numb from the waist down. I can't even feel my penis, which is entirely unpleasant. I don't even know if it's still there, to tell you the truth. Somebody may have cut it off and I'd be none the wiser. Do you want to check for me to make sure it's there?"

Draco tried to make light of the situation but Harry did not find his humour the least funny. "So… you're paralysed?"

"Basically," Draco shrugged. "They said I'll recover so it's nothing permanent, apparently. I should be able to return to work in about three months."

"Well…."

"If you're worried about your sex life, Harry, don't worry. I still have use of my mouth and hands."

"Draco, I'm not that worried about that right now. I'm more worried about you."

"I feel inclined to agree with Potter, Draco," said a silky voice from behind them. Both young men turned and saw Snape standing by the end of the curtain, one eyebrow raised.

"Severus!" Draco exclaimed, pleased, "how corking to see you!"

Snape raised an eyebrow to show his distaste. "You seem to be in high spirits, Draco, considering the situation."

"They said I'd get better, so what's the use of moping? Besides, you should see the chair I get. It hovers!" Draco was practically glowing from excitement. "I can hover as high as I want, well, under ten feet that is. If I wanted to kick somebody in the face, I could, very easily… with the exception that I'd have to use arm power to control my legs, but still, you get the point!"

"How do you feel about this chair, Potter?" Snape asked Harry.

"I don't know. This is the first I've heard of it. I'm afraid for my face."

"Don't worry, Harry. You're much too pretty to be kicked in the face. Weasley on the other hand…" Draco grinned maliciously.

Just then, Hermione rushed into the room, pink in the face and panting. "Oh, Draco, how awful for you!" she exclaimed, rushing forward and embracing him. "I was just here to check on the status of things with the new injuries and just heard that you were hit with something –"

"What do you mean, you just heard?" asked Harry angrily. "You're the one who sent me a letter, acting as if you don't know Draco or me!"

"What are you talking about, Harry?" Hermione asked anxiously.

Harry held out the letter that was still clutched in his fist. "This letter you wrote… 'We regret to inform you that your partner, Mr. Draco Malfoy' and 'Sincerely, Hermione E. Granger.' What was that?"

"Oh!" Hermione clapped her hand over her mouth. "I'm so sorry, Harry. I was so swamped with work this morning after the attack. The Minister sent me list of people that needed owls sent to them, informing them of their family members' injuries. I didn't think I had time to do all of them, so I did it with a spell. I magicked a quill to do it while I did other things. It wrote the same thing in every letter, except it changed names and such. I'm so sorry, Harry. I didn't even look at the names on the list. If I had, I would have written yours personally." Harry did not feel wholly convinced. "Honestly, Harry. I swear. I never thought that Draco would be the one who was injured."

"Harry," Draco said, "let her off the hook. I'm sure she probably was swamped with work, you know?"

Harry sighed, hanging his head. "All right, I'm sorry, Hermione. I'm acting like a… well, it's not excusable. I was just worried."

"I understand, Harry. But for what it's worth, I really am sorry."

Harry nodded, giving a wan smile. "It's okay… really."

Snape rolled his eyes. "As much as I would love to sit in on this _cute_ moment, I really did come here to speak to Draco about something… in private."

"Yes, Harry… Granger, leave immediately," Draco commanded. Harry shook his head, took Hermione by the elbow and started to leave the room. "Oh, but Harry?" Draco called.

"Yes?"

"I'm feeling a bit put out that you didn't bring me anything."

"King of subtlety, he is," Harry muttered to Hermione, who giggled. "I'll pop over to Diagon Alley and get you something nice," he then said to Draco, as if speaking to a small child. Draco, however, grinned from ear to ear.

"Oh, but make sure to get me a large amount of cockroach clusters."

"I would never forget those," Harry said dryly.

"Cockroach Clusters?" Hermione asked distastefully as they left the room.

"Flowers wouldn't hurt either!" Draco yelled after them.

Harry ignored him. "Yes. They're his guilty pleasure, as he says. We usually have a stash hidden away in our bedroom, kitchen, and living room somewhere. I wouldn't be surprised if he has a couple in his office as well. This phase is better than his blood-flavoured pops that he went through about a year ago. I finally told him that I would never kiss him again if he kept eating them. Then he switched to Cockroach Clusters – hasn't stopped eating them since."

Hermione laughed quietly. "Okay, Harry… I'm sorry, but I have to get back to my rounds of the hospital. I'll see you this Saturday, right?"

"If Draco permits it – he's unusually demanding when he's ill, or incapacitated."

They hugged briefly, and then went their separate ways.

The next few weeks were trying for Harry. Though he liked having Draco home, he did not like being at Draco's every beck and call. Draco was extremely demanding, but Harry took it all in stride. He knew that he would do anything to get Draco back on his feet again, so kept at it.

Draco was making considerable progress. He could now stand, though he had to be leaning up against something to do so. He could not walk more than one step without collapsing, but the Healers said that Draco's progress was going extremely well.

A few days before Christmas, Draco was in his hover chair and had excused himself to the bathroom – something Harry was thankful that Draco could now do himself. Harry sat on the couch, intent on watching the rest of the evening news when a loud shout came from the bathroom. Harry was up in a flash and in the bathroom before Draco's next shout sounded throughout the flat.

"What is it?" Harry asked urgently.

Draco was facing the toilet, and turned his head to look at Harry, his face glowing. "I can feel my penis again! It tingles when I touch it. Now I can give you your Christmas present!"

Harry stared at Draco's back as the blond looked down and began touching himself in obvious delight. He walked to him and bent down to kiss Draco's cheek. "That's great, Draco. I'm glad it's coming back, but I don't know if I want to know what the present is," he kissed his cheek again and walked out of the bathroom.

Christmas Eve finally arrived. Draco was acting more perplexed, but Harry tried to ignore that. The two of them were to have Christmas Eve to themselves, and the next morning, they would go the Burrow for Christmas gifts and dinner. All the Weasleys, Sirius, and Remus would be there as well.

Harry made Draco and himself a dinner of their own on Christmas Eve complete with candlelight and expensive wine. Draco had swooned mockingly, but had immediately become sober and tense once dinner commenced. Harry studied his husband, as the blond absentmindedly ate his roast beef.

Harry decided to ignore what was on Draco's mind for now. "Did you want to open presents after dinner?"

"This is really good," Draco commented distractedly, pointing at the food with his fork.

"Thanks. Mrs. Weasley gave me some pointers…. Did you want to open gifts after dinner?"

"Er – I… I have something I need to do first."

A bead of sweat broke out on Draco's forehead. Harry blinked, and nodded. "Okay."

"Don't do dishes yet. We'll do them together later. Excuse me. I'll be right back."

Harry watched perplexed as Draco turned in his chair and hovered from the room. A door closed down the hall, and it was silent again. Harry sat back and finished off his glass of wine, and waited another ten minutes at the table for Draco to reappear. When it seemed as though he would not be coming back for a while, Harry began clearing the table, and turned on the lights overhead. The former Gryffindor looked down at all the leftovers that they had, and regretfully threw most of it away. Draco absolutely refused to eat any sort of leftovers, so it was usually up to Harry to finish off the rest. Most did get eaten, but more often than not, it would mould in the refrigerator, and Harry would have to throw it out anyway. He put the dishes in the sink, turned on the hot water, and added soap, to let the dishes start to soak. Instead of starting the dishes to help pass time while he waited, he entered the living room where the Christmas tree was glowing with fairies, numerous presents sitting proudly beneath it.

Harry turned some wizarding Christmas music on low to cover the silence of the flat. He never did like the feeling of being alone, so usually liked some sort of noise. When a half an hour had passed, Harry heard Draco call his name. Harry followed the sound of his voice to the bathroom and cautiously opened the door. It was dark and all Harry could hear was panting breath and the steady 'drip' of the faucet.

"Draco? Are you all right?"

"I need your help. This isn't working by myself." Draco panted from somewhere below Harry.

Harry flipped on the light switch. Draco was lying on his side on the carpeted floor, back to Harry. He was breathing heavily and his trousers and boxers were down to his knees.

Harry hurried to his back and tried to turn him over, but Draco moved more onto his front. "Draco, did you fall? How long ago did it happen? You should have called for help."

"I didn't fall. Well, I tipped out of my chair, but I didn't care so much. That's not what I need help with."

"What is it?"

Draco turned his face up to Harry's. His face was covered in sweat and flushed a light red. "Don't laugh, Harry."

"I won't, I promise."

"I need you to… finish me off."

"What?"

Draco rolled his eyes and sat up, showing Harry exactly what he was doing. "You came in here to _masturbate_?"

"Yes. Is there a problem?"

"Well… no, but why?"

"Because I didn't want you to know what I was doing until after I did it."

"I'm so confused," Harry said blankly.

"Okay," Draco sighed, "sit down, and spread your legs."

Harry complied, but only because he was so confused. Draco manoeuvred himself awkwardly so that he was sitting up, in-between Harry's legs, and took Harry's right hand in his. "Now finish me off." Harry still hesitated. "Please, Harry…. I need somebody else to touch me, because then I might be able to feel it more, you know what I mean?"

"I don't understand the point of this exercise, but… okay."

Harry wrapped his hand around Draco's erection and began moving his hand up and down. Draco leaned his head back on Harry's shoulder. "Mmm hmm… that's much better. I wish I had more feeling though. I would have come a long time ago, and we would have been halfway through my presents by now. _Oh_…"

Harry began kissing Draco's exposed neck. "You are so weird," he murmured.

It did take Draco longer to reach his orgasm than he would have before he was hit by the spell, Harry found, but his attention was not directed at that when Draco indicated his coming climax. Harry watched perplexed as Draco grappled at the floor and grabbed a cup that was lying next to where Draco had been when Harry found him. "Harry," Draco breathed, and then came into the cup.

When Draco finally began breathing correctly, Harry kissed his chin. "You know, we could have cleaned up the mess easily. You didn't have to have a cup with you."

"Yes I did."

The former Slytherin began lifting and setting his legs down so that he was sitting sideways in Harry's legs. Draco smiled wearily, kissed his husband, and then handed Harry the cup. "Happy Christmas," he sighed.

Harry stared at the cup of semen nonplussed. "You gave me a cup of semen," Harry commented vacantly.

"Yes, I did!" Draco said triumphantly.

"Thanks…. I think." Draco continued to beam at Harry. Harry stared from the cup to Draco, and to the cup. "You gave me a cup of semen." Harry furrowed his brow, thinking of the presents underneath the tree. Now that he thought of it, there were no presents for Harry underneath the tree. There were only presents for Draco. "Draco, you gave me a _cup of semen_ for Christmas!"

"I know," Draco replied, beginning to sound worried. "Don't you like it?"

"Draco… it's _sperm_. What would I do with it?"

"I can think of two things. You could drink it…. Don't look at me like that. I know you're a kinky boy at heart. It's good protein."

"Draco…"

"Or you could look at it as I see it."

"And how is that, precisely?"

Draco took the cup back. "I present to you…." He pushed it back in Harry's face, making a grand sweeping gesture in front of the cup with his free hand. "Kid in a cup!"

Harry blinked. "Excuse me?"

Draco rolled his eyes. "Harry, you dense Gryffindor, you – half of our first child is in this cup." Harry continued to blink. "I'm giving you a child for Christmas," Draco elaborated. "Granted, she needs her other half given so that she can start to grow, and it'll take nine months, but – "

Harry let out an excited laugh, leaning in to Draco and kissing him passionately.

"Mmph! Harry, cup!"

Harry leaned back to allow Draco to set the cup back down, but kissed him hard when it was at a safe distance. When they finally pulled away, in desperate need for air, Harry laughed helplessly when he looked at Draco. His shirt had been pulled up so that it was tucked into his armpits, and his trousers were still at his knees, and he generally looked thoroughly shagged. Harry felt sad that he had not been the one to do it himself, but found it infinitely funny that Draco had been the one to get himself into this state.

"Merlin, you're so silly, Draco. You should see yourself right now."

"You try wanking when you have next to no feeling below the waist," Draco grumbled. "That took forever!" Draco suddenly looked alarmed and grabbed at the cup, scrambled for his wand and cast a charm over it.

"What are you doing?"

"There's no way that this sample will work if we allow the sperm to die. We have to keep the conditions ideal for them to thrive."

"There's plenty where that came from, Draco. We can just dump it out."

"If you think I'm going to purposely become aroused before all my feeling is back, you're insane. Healer Widduling said that this would be the best course of action since I'm temporarily paralysed."

"You talked to him?" Harry inquired, generally surprised.

"Yes. I had to make an appointment with him, didn't I?"

"You're really serious about this, aren't you?"

"Yes, I told you I am. I wouldn't give just anybody a sample of me."

Harry smiled affectionately and kissed Draco. "I don't understand what made you change your mind. You're not doing this just to make me happy, are you? I don't want a child that way. Well… I know it seemed like it before, but really, I'll be fine waiting if you don't want one."

"I do want one, Harry. I just – thought we were young. Well, we are young, but I've thought about it, and we might need work…." Draco grinned, affectionately smoothing his thumb over Harry's cheek. "But there's never a perfect time for a baby, is there? If we put it off now and wait two years, there will be something else that gets in the way. And then who knows when we'll have one, understand? Besides for our age, there's really nothing that says we shouldn't have one. At least I don't think so anyway. Like you said, you can manage with your disability. I believe you can at any rate. I can work less. Lesser wizards than us have had children younger than us and managed just fine. I bet Molly and Arthur Weasley started when they were ten years old."

Harry pinched Draco's bottom hard enough so that he could feel it. "You're babbling nonsense, Draco."

"But you understand me?" Draco's grin faded. "I _do_ want a baby with you. I think it's a brilliant idea. And I think we'll have the brightest child this world has ever known."

Harry smiled weakly, almost too happy to say anything as he leaned his forehead against Draco's. "I think we will too. Brilliant and beautiful she will be."

"Ha!" Draco exclaimed triumphantly, pulling away. "You believe that she will be a she!"

"Slip of the tongue. Come on, let's get you straightened out so that we can go out and see what kind of gifts I got you."

Draco glanced down at Harry's lap and frowned. "But you need attention now."

"I don't matter right now. You have presents to open."

"Fine, but I'm not letting you sleep tonight until I help you out." Draco winked and Harry blushed.

"Stop it," Harry admonished, pulled Draco up by the armpits. "Lean against the wall while I fix your clothes."

Draco scowled as he hated being coddled. "I can fix my own clothes."

"I know. But I like leering at you from this view," Harry replied flippantly, bending down and tugging at Draco's boxers. As he began pulling the silk up, he kissed up Draco's leg, making Draco laugh.

"It tickles."

Harry finished dressing Draco in silence and then carried him to his hover chair. Draco sank gratefully into it and left the bathroom as fast as he could, calling over his shoulder for Harry to take the cup of semen.

The two young men passed the rest of the night, finishing off the bottle of wine, and opening presents. It turned out that Draco had just forgotten to put the rest of Harry's presents under the tree, so they took turns in opening gifts. Harry gave Draco an assortment of things from candy to clothes to fun trinkets that Draco had been eyeing.

The rest of the holidays passed in good spirits and raised hopes for Harry and Draco's coming child. They had announced during Christmas dinner at the Burrow that they were going to see the Healer on January second to look for a possible woman to carry their baby. Sirius had made a toast to them, and it was something that Harry would remember well in a few years.

"So, what did it take for you to get Draco to agree to a child - blackmail?" Sirius had asked. Harry blushed and looked down as Draco raised an eyebrow at him. "No, but in all seriousness, Harry," Sirius continued, "I saw the happiness that having you gave your parents, and if having a child of your own can make you even half as happy as having you made James and Lily, then I'll support you and Draco throughout the entire thing. If you two need help with anything, you know that I'll be there…" Remus elbowed him lightly in the side, "and Remus of course." The entire Weasley family plus Hermione coughed in unison. "And how could I forget our lovely bunch of red heads?" Sirius grinned at them all. "You have a lot of people behind you both, and we'll help you to make sure that your child or children, however many you may have, will grow up happily. So…" Sirius raised his glass, and everybody around the enlarged table followed suit, "congratulations to both of you. Oh, and just for the record, I _don't_ change dirty nappies."

Even as Harry sat in the waiting room on the day of their appointment, waiting for the Healer to call for Draco and him, he could not help but smile when he thought of Sirius's speech.

"Mr. Malfoy, Mr. Potter, please follow me," requested the Healer as he opened the office door. Harry stood from his chair, grabbing Draco's hand and following the older man into the Muggle office, and then through the magically revealed doorway. "How are you two young men doing today?" asked Healer Widduling, as they sat around the large conference table.

As Draco answered, Harry noticed a young woman with long brown hair that was falling down to the middle of her back sitting on the opposite side of the table and gave her a kind smile. She gave a small smile back and turned away from Harry, though Harry kept staring at her. She had strange eyes, almost like a large cat. They were a mixture of yellow and green, and seemed to glow in the dimly lit room.

"This is Tiada Mildewing," introduced the Healer. "When Draco came in to schedule the appointment, he looked through the book and picked Miss Mildewing, bearing your interests in mind, I might add, Mr. Potter. Now, as I understand it, Draco already has a sample ready, and all we need is one from you, Harry."

"Already?"

"Why, yes of course. What did you think this appointment was for? We have already retrieved several eggs from Miss Mildewing. Are you having second thoughts?" he asked when Harry paled.

"No, I would never have second thoughts about this," Harry responded immediately. "I was just surprised."

"Well then… if you would please retreat into the room next door. You will find an assortment of wizard magazines for your use."

Harry nodded and stood up, catching sight of Draco smirking up at him. "Need any help?"

"I can manage," he said faintly and left the other's company.

It was oddly disconcerting to know that the people outside knew exactly what he was doing, but also did not mind that he was doing it. He felt himself lose his train of thought at inconvenient moments and would remember just where he was and would lose momentum. But he steeled himself and trained his thoughts on the one time he had come home to find Draco lying in the middle of the bed, completely naked, waiting and ready for Harry.

When Harry emerged from the room, spelled cup in hand, Draco looked up and smirked at his sweaty appearance. "Problems, _love_?"

"Shut up, Draco," he replied, smiling slightly and slid the cup across the table to the Healer.

"Okay, that is all we will need from you two today. We'll just take these into the lab, and in about an hour, we'll be able to plant them inside of Miss Mildewing's uterus. Draco has all of her contact information and she has yours. It will take a few days of course to find out if it takes, but I will be sure to be in touch with you with the results. After that, any communication between the three of you will be all up to you."

They all bid farewell to each other and Harry and Draco took their leave. When they arrived in the Muggle exam room, Harry stopped Draco, commanding him to raise the chair so that they were of the same height. Draco smirked and rose up so that he was now two inches taller than Harry.

"Yes?"

"It's nothing… I just wanted to tell you that I love you."

Draco did not say anything, but leaned down and kissed Harry sweetly. "I've always wanted to see what it would be like from up here," he stated breathlessly afterwards.

"Any different from the top?"

"No… I still like kissing you the same."

Draco lowered his chair, put the Disillusionment charm back on so that it looked like it had wheels and wheeled out of the room. Harry followed him in a daze. "You're being sappy!" he called.

"And you're dawdling. Get me my coat!"

The next two months passed by in a hazy blur for both Harry and Draco. Only three days after their scheduled appointment in January, they received an owl from the Healer that the procedure had taken and Tiada Mildewing was pregnant with their child. Harry had been so overjoyed that he had fire-called everybody, stuck his head in the fire long enough for somebody to see him, called out, 'It worked!' and then disappeared again before they could reply.

It took until the end of February for the euphoria to wear off, and it finally began to settle into both of their heads that they were having a child. They began to frantically search all the wizarding baby stores that they had ever heard of and were in the middle of renovating the second bedroom in their flat. Thankfully by this time, Draco was out of his chair and was using a walking cane as his legs grew stronger, so he was of more help to Harry.

The never-ending feud of names had begun as well, so it was a morning in late August that Harry set out to find a children's name book. When he returned home, Draco was sitting on the couch, reading the Daily Prophet. "I bought a name book that we can use."

Draco set down the paper and patted the space next to him. "Let's see it then."

Harry sat, letting Draco wrap an arm around him. Harry snuggled into his side and Draco kissed his temple. "Okay," Harry started, opening the book to the first page.

"This seems a little pointless," Draco drawled, grabbing the book with his left hand. "I already know what I want to name my girl."

Harry grabbed the book back. "We are not naming our child Ethelinda."

"I think we will," Draco smirked. "Now flip to the girls names. I want to start looking for our baby girl's name."

"How can you be so sure that it'll be a girl? I think it'll be a boy."

"Of course you would," Draco replied grabbing the book again and flipping to a random section of the book. "See? Here's Ethelinda. They like it too. And it means 'noble snake.' That's perfect!"

"First of all," Harry began taking the book back, "I already have no less than two snakes." Harry pointed to his snake, which sat in a cage across the room, and then elbowed Draco lightly. "I don't need another. For another, that name is completely hideous."

"It's elegant and beautiful."

"Says you," Harry muttered, flipping through the book. "I already like my mother's name, Lily."

"Grandparents names will be a middle name if anything. It's too confusing."

"My mother is dead though."

"Yes… all the same." "Fine," Harry sighed. "I have always rather liked the name James, too, but I suppose that's out of the question."

"Too right," Draco nodded. "Besides, we're having a girl."

Harry chuckled, flipping through the 'A' names. "Here's a nice one – Ava. Of course, I think I've seen it spelled E-V-A as well. Do you like that?"

"Plain, but nice." Draco took the book from Harry and flipped through it.

"Riley is unisex…" he continued flipping. "Aeneas is a good one for a boy. I've always liked that one," Draco said, looking through 'G' names. "This is ridiculous, Harry. I flat-out refuse to look at boy names. We're not having a boy."

"But what if we do?"

"Then we'll look at boy's names, but I'm positive we'll have a girl, so I'll tell you the names off the top of my head that I like: Makena, Ayida –"

Harry took the book back. "Buying this book was a waste of time," he interrupted, "wasn't it? You're already set on names."

"Basically… there has to be something you'll like out of the names I like." Harry put the book on the floor. "We'll figure something out. At any rate, I stopped by the joke shop today and it was really busy. I told Fred I'd be by later to help out, so I'm going to go there for a few hours."

"When will you be home?"

"Probably six at the latest. Do you want me to pick up something for dinner?"

"No, I have something in mind," Draco grinned. "I'll have it ready for when you get home."

Harry grabbed and squeezed Draco's hand. "Thanks." They kissed and Harry stood to leave again. "Love you," he called as he went to put on his shoes.

Draco smiled, leaning against the couch. "Love you, too."

When he heard Harry Disapparate from the foyer, Draco stood and began getting ready to leave. He was going to buy the necessary ingredients for a homemade dinner for Harry. He did not really know how to cook, but he figured that with magic, he could do almost anything. Besides, he was good at potions.

The blond was home within an hour with bags of food. The majority of the day was spent in the kitchen, feverishly preparing everything from scratch. He managed to burn a sauce, but when he started again, he got it right. He also started two fires, but put them out promptly, and by the time six came, everything was laid out nicely on the table, candles lit to set the atmosphere. They were just a couple weeks to the due date, and so Draco was going to take advantage of every moment alone with Harry until then. As the time neared six, Draco took to waiting at the door to the kitchen, checking his pocket watch every two minutes. Soon, the time was ten after six, and Draco was getting agitated. He knew that it would be unreasonable to start getting worried at this point, but Harry had said he'd be home at six at the latest. Harry usually was home when he said he would be. So why wasn't he home?

It had been busy at the store today, Harry had said. Draco nodded to himself as the minute hand ticked over the half-hour mark. But the minutes turned to hours, and soon it was a quarter after nine, and still, Harry wasn't home. There was nobody around the joke shop when he called, and he called Sirius through the fire, but Harry had not been around. Remus said they had not seen Harry for two days. He called Mrs. Weasley, but he had not been there either.

Draco was pacing around the flat in a nervous fit by the time midnight tolled its hour on the grandfather clock in his study. It was not like Harry to be home so late. What if something had happened? If that were the case, Draco didn't know what he would do. They had a baby on the way. He did not know if he could do it by himself. The Slytherin absentmindedly spun his wedding band, which was glowing faint.

This wasn't right, he told himself. Harry would not stay out so long without calling. He tried calming his nerves before he nervously paced to the fireplace and threw Floo powder into the flames. "Ronald Weasley!" he called out. He sank to his knees, twisting his hands as he waited for somebody to show their face in the fire.

It took one minute… two minutes…. The only sound in the room was Draco's rapid breathing and his black cat, Davis mewling to get onto the patio. "Weasley!" Draco yelled suddenly into the fire. "Quit shagging Hermione and get your arse over to where I can see it! WEASLEY!"

A very disgruntled Ron Weasley appeared in the fire. "Water works well for fires, Malfoy. You don't need to call me every time you start one. Besides, I'm trying to _sleep_," Ron grumped.

Draco clenched his jaw. "So, Harry isn't over there?"

Ron scratched his head and furrowed his brow. "Of course not. You know he only comes here on Saturday nights. If you've _forgotten_, it's Thursday, and I have _work_ in the morning."

Draco drew in a calming breath and spoke through a clenched jaw. "You haven't seen Harry, then?"

"I already told you, you raving lunatic. I haven't seen him. Besides, Malfoy…"

Draco stopped listening then because he heard the front door opening. "Sorry to bother you, Weasley, but I think he's home now," he interrupted.

Draco pulled his head back from the fire without saying goodbye and scrambled to the front just in time to see Harry taking off his shoes and cloak. "Harry, where the hell have you been? I've been worried out of my mind!"

Harry turned with a tired smile. Draco stopped in his tracks, the forming smile fading quickly from his face. Something was different. "I'm sorry, Draco. Some… old friends from school came into the shop as the twins and I were closing up. They didn't give me much choice if I wanted to come with them or not."

Draco took a step forward, not quite able to shake the feeling that something was off. "You could have called," he said quietly, closing the remaining distance between them, sliding a hand behind his neck. Draco sighed – the warm skin, the musky scent, the emerald eyes… there was absolutely nothing wrong. Draco gave a short, relieved laugh to which Harry's brow furrowed.

"Like I said," Harry replied, "they didn't give me much choice in the matter. And what are you laughing at?"

"Nothing," Draco shook his head. "It's just that when I saw you, I thought that there was something a little off."

Harry's eyes darted away, but Draco took his chin and made Harry look into his eyes. "But I had to have been imagining things. You still feel and smell the same." Draco smiled warmly, and leaned up for a kiss. Harry, however, pushed past him with a shaky laugh.

"Of course it's still me, Draco. Just as it is every time I come home."

Draco followed uneasily into the kitchen, grabbing his cane as he went. "Yes, but you're acting strange."

Harry grabbed a small glass from the counter and began to fill it with water from the tap. "That glass is dirty," Draco commented.

Harry looked to it and tossed the water back out. "Of course. I'll just grab a new one then." He opened a cupboard and blinked. "Plates. Right." He tried the next one over. "Food."

Draco watched him open two more cupboards before getting fed up and fetching a glass for him. "And you know that we have filtered water in the refrigerator."

"Right," Harry nodded. "I just didn't know if you had drank it all…" he trailed off and kneeled in front of the dishwasher, feeling it up and down with his hand.

Draco sighed. "What's going on, Harry?"

"Nothing."

"Well, you're the one who taught me the difference between a dishwasher and a refrigerator. And you also don't know where our glasses are tonight."

As he spoke he went into the fridge and grabbed the pitcher of water and set it on the counter. Harry's face turned pink as he stood to his full height.

"I'm just tired Draco. And I've had a few drinks tonight."

It seemed like a reasonable enough explanation, but there was still something missing. "Okay, so let's go to bed," Draco suggested, looking regretfully to the dinner he had prepared on the table. It was still hot, held by a spell he had placed on it.

Harry nodded. "Good idea."

Draco grabbed Harry's arm as he pushed past and spun him around, pressing their chests together. "If there's something on your mind, Harry, tell me."

"There's nothing."

Draco studied him for a few moments and then nodded. "Okay, so let me kiss you. And make me believe it."

Before the darker man could do or say anything, Draco kissed him. The kiss was awkward, as if it were the first time they had ever done it. Draco was not impressed and it showed on his face.

"You caught me off guard!" Harry exclaimed attempting to make a joke of it by laughing. "Here… let me do this." Harry threaded his fingers through the blond hair, sending shivers down Draco's back. That was not different. Harry's touch usually did do that. Draco was becoming putty in his husband's hands as Harry brushed their noses together and softly brought their lips together. Draco slid his arms around Harry's neck and the kiss deepened. It tasted of limes and salt. Draco moaned quietly when Harry ended the kiss and dropped his head on Harry's shoulder, nose buried in his neck.

"Okay," he mumbled. "You're drunk and I'm paranoid." Harry took a deep breath and sighed. "I love you, Harry."

"Draco, I have to tell –"

Harry never finished his sentence as a loud blast shook the flat. Wood and dust blew in from the front door, carrying in three dark forms. Harry drew quickly away from Draco, who reached into all his pockets for his wand. "Shit," he murmured under his breath as he remembered that he left it on the mantle of the fireplace. The dagger came flying into his mind, and he grinned inwardly at the thought of it on his belt.

"Draco," Harry whispered and grabbed his hand. The three intruders stormed in the flat in seconds and grabbed the two men, dragging them into the living room. They searched Harry, withdrew his wand and threw it into the kitchen. Draco tried reaching for his dagger and managed to withdraw it, and was about to dig it into the man holding him, but another one grabbed it before it could meet its mark. The intruders, who Draco could see were Death Eaters judging from their masks, sent ropes flying from their wands to wrap roughly around Draco's wrists and ankles. Without arms to balance, he fell to the ground. Harry's wrists were tied up, but his feet were still free from binds. When Draco next looked up, Harry was standing still, his head down doing nothing. Draco could feel rage build within him.

"Harry, for fuck's sake, do something! Don't just stand there!"

"Shut up, Malfoy!" one of the Death Eaters hissed and kicked Draco in the stomach. Draco grunted and curled into a ball.

"This isn't going to work," Draco heard Harry say quietly. "Let us go. Your Master was killed years ago. Avenging his death won't bring him back."

Draco looked up to see one of the Death Eaters hit Harry in the side of the heat. Harry bit down hard and blood ran from his mouth. "Hold onto, Potter!" the one who had kicked Draco barked out. One of the intruders was oddly still, standing back from the fray, but within arms reach of the others.

"Is that what this is about?" Draco asked lowly, turning his gaze from this man. "About Voldemort?"

"That's always part of it, isn't it, Malfoy? But our reasons for coming here tonight are for much more than just avenging our Lord's death."

"Oh?" Draco raised a brow.

"We're here for the both of you faggots. You, the son of a noble man; you who used to claim loyalty to our cause; you who became traitor because of a few sweet words whispered in your ear by this Muggle-lover, and a promise of a faithful dick in your arse."

The Death Eater kneeled down and put his face – white mask covering the entirety – in Draco's. "Does it make you feel like a real man when you're on your hands and knees begging your Mudblood to stick it in? Do you do it because it reminds you of the better days when you were faithful to us and you were the Dark Lord's pet? Do you close your eyes at night and try to imagine that the Mudblood was somebody else?"

Draco could feel the rage boiling within him and could feel the shake in his hands. He couldn't get anything to come out of his mouth. Why was Harry so silent? Why wasn't he coming to Draco's defence? Desperation boiled in the blonde's chest as the Death Eater's brown eyes showed his enjoyment of the situation. Draco's mind was screaming for Harry.

'Why, Harry!" he yelled in his mind.

Suddenly, Draco drew his head back and spit in the Death Eater's eye. "Harry," Draco looked to his husband, but Harry's eyes were glued to the floor in front of him. He was docile in the Death Eater's hands, just as docile as the third Death Eater. He did not _understand_. "Why, Harry?" Draco asked just as the man beside him clubbed him on the top of the shoulder in rage. Draco cried out, pain and sudden loneliness spreading through his body and mind. Harry was right here, yet he wasn't. Draco was starting to wonder if Harry hadn't gone out with friends after all.

"Quit messing around with him. Let's just get this over with so we can go out and celebrate," one of the men holding Harry suggested. The one beside Draco finished wiping out his eye.

"Right…. The point I was trying to make was that you and your Mudblood husband have had far too much of a hand in the lives of our Master, friends, and comrades. One of the most difficult times we had after losing an associate was when you let your Mudblood kill your own father."

He tsked before continuing. "Those were hard times indeed, but I won't bore you with the details."

"So what does all of this mean for Harry and me?"

"Let me demonstrate."

The Death Eater withdrew the dagger they had just confiscated from Draco. The man twisted the dagger in the air, the light glinting off of the blade. "This is a fine heirloom, Malfoy. Though I doubt it was ever meant to kill a Malfoy."

"My father deserved it."

"I tend to disagree."

He gave a short laugh, and without looking he drove the dagger into Harry's side, just below his last rib. Harry gave a small grunt while Draco cried out. "I believe your Mudblood deserved that. But I don't think you agree." He shrugged. "It's all a matter of opinion." He turned the knife in a 360 and brutally withdrew it from Harry's side. "Don't you think?"

"Stop. Don't hurt him anymore." Draco pled quietly. "Hurt me instead. Kill me, not him."

"Oh, but we just started to have fun, Malfoy," the Death Eater simpered. "Now the Mudblood stabbed Lucius three times, correct? The second being… his arm, I believe?"

The Death Eater holding Harry's left side lifted his arm. Harry made no sign of recognition that he was in trouble. "Harry, do something!" Draco said desperately.

The armed man turned from the blond and drove the five-inch blade through the underside of Harry's arm. The tip came through the top, blood spurting out of the puncture. It was all too familiar – all too horrible. This time Harry cried out as Draco thrashed around on the floor. Blood had landed on his face and clothes. He wiped his face on the carpet and attempted to free his hands. Something crashed into his face and Draco stopped thrashing. His nose felt numb and there was blood rushing out of it.

"Stop," he whispered. "Take me, not him."

He drew a breath and shouted as if it would change their minds. "_Kill me_!"

"But don't you understand, Malfoy? Everybody knows your weakness is Potter. Everything will be so easy for us once he's dead."

"Draco," Harry whispered through the blood in his mouth. He coughed and spit blood onto the floor.

"Harry," Draco looked up.

"Don't worry, Draco," Harry smiled with blood in his teeth. "This isn't the end of us – of Harry and Draco. Believe me. If Har… if I love you at all, I would never give up until I found you again." He coughed again.

"You're not making sense, Harry."

"Yes, I am," Harry nodded his head, his voice agitated. "Be patient. You wait and see that I –"

The man with the dagger growled low in his throat and drove the blade into Harry's neck. Harry's words were stopped with a wet gurgle, his eyes popping. Draco let out a strangled cry and attempted to reach his husband. The Death Eater twisted the dagger in his neck. Harry's eyes found Draco's one last time, and then he fell limp in the man's arms.

"Your turn, Malfoy," said one of the men as he dropped Harry's body and stepped over it. Draco went limp against the floor, staring at Harry. His neck was bent in an uncomfortable position and his eyes were still wide with shock and pain. Draco only just managed to stop a whimper from escaping his throat.

"Go ahead," he whispered. "There's nothing I can do anyway."

"See?" The nearest Death Eater sneered. "Easy."

He took the dagger in his hand and pressed it against Draco's neck. Draco lifted his chin for better access. He could feel it begin to cut into his skin, could feel blood trickle down into his collar. It was over. He was dead, but at least he'd see Harry soon. Maybe this is what Harry meant, Draco thought, about Harry and Draco not being over.

But suddenly, a loud crash came from the entry and all the Death Eaters were distracted. The blade cut further into Draco's throat and he clutched at it. There was yelling suddenly, but Draco's mind was beginning to shut down. He couldn't decipher anything that was going on. Feet were running around him and things were falling to the floor. Somebody had just yelled, "Malfoy!" he was certain, but he did not know whom it was.

Draco started to roll over so that he could go somewhere. He was not sure where he would be safe, but he wanted to get out of the blood – Harry's blood. But before he could get anywhere, somebody's steel toe boot met the back of his head, shooting his head toward the floor. He hit his forehead with a resounding crack, and he knew no more.

* * *

**Author notes:** I've been waiting to post this for two years. On that note...

hides

peeks around corner Did I mention that the sequel is H/D? Did I also mention that there's an epilogue (because hopefully they're posted at the same time)? Well, what are waiting for? Go read! Oh, but please review this chapter first! I deeply appreciate it. :)


	23. Epilogue

**Remember You**  
_Epilogue_

_Hold on to me love  
You know I can't stay long  
All I wanted to say was I love you and I'm not afraid  
Can you hear me?  
Can you feel me in your arms? _

I'll miss the winter  
A world of fragile things  
Look for me in the white forest  
Hiding in a hollow tree (come find me)  
I know you hear me  
I can taste it in your tears  
Holding my last breath  
Safe inside myself  
Are all my thoughts of you  
Sweet raptured light it ends here tonight

Draco's eyes snapped open as his grandfather clock struck one. What was going on, he wondered, blinking slowly? Where was Harry? Why was he on the floor? Why was his head pounding?

"Draco?" called a soft voice.

"Harry?" he croaked.

And suddenly… it was back. Every horrible detail came back to him with a force that took his breath away. He sat up like a shot and immediately regretted it when his head started spinning.

"Harry!" he panicked. "Where's Harry?"

"Draco, take a deep breath and drink this for your head."

Draco blinked rapidly, his eyes focusing on Hermione's face. He took the smoking potion and only when the rim of the cup hit his nose, did he realise that his nose had been fixed already. He gulped down the potion and instantly felt the dizziness recede.

"Where's Harry?" he whispered.

Hermione's eyes were blood shot, he noticed. His mind began spinning. He felt frantic as he grabbed the front of her robes. "It wasn't real!" he screamed in her face, spit landing on her cheek. She flinched but didn't back away. "Tell me it wasn't real, Granger! Tell me he's not dead! _Tell me_!" his voice shook with his hysteria.

Hermione dropped her head. "It was real, Draco. Harry's dead." Her voice cracked but she cleared it before she spoke again. "We moved him… to the guest bedroom. We wanted him to be comfortable."

Draco was up in a flash and stumbling down the hall. "Don't follow me!" he shouted when he heard her footsteps. "Just give me a minute by myself!"

The door was ajar and there was somebody sitting next to the prone body. It was Ron. There was a tear rolling down his face that he quickly wiped away at Draco's entrance.

"You're up," he said, standing.

"Yes. Now give me a moment with him before anybody else gets here to take him away."

"The Aurors were called five minutes ago. You won't have much time."

Draco didn't say anything. He simply stared at Harry's face until Ron left the room. "Harry," he whispered as he sat on the bed beside him.

Draco spent minutes just staring and then smoothing back the unruly black hair. "I don't understand… I… You didn't fight at all. You just took it, Harry. You _let_ them kill you."

Hot tears began to flow down his face. "Why didn't you fight?"

Draco leaned down and kissed his lips, tasting the drying blood there. And finally the tight feeling in his chest exploded with a cry so tortured, so mournful that it made the hairs on Hermione's and Ron's arms and neck stand on end in the hall outside.

"_NO_!" he screamed over and over again until his voice was hoarse and Ron was attempting to pull him off Harry's body; for he had lain his head on Harry's chest and was hugging him as if his own life depended on it.

"Leave us!" Draco screamed.

"If you calm down, we'll leave," Ron said, his hands on Draco's shoulders.

Draco nodded desperately, his sobs coming in great sniffs. He slackened his grip on Harry, and Ron moved from the room.

The blond took one great sniff and looked into Harry's face. Only then did he notice that nobody had closed his eyes yet. He understood. It was not easy saying goodbye to eyes like those. The emerald colour looked dimmer somehow, but they were still the eyes Draco knew. He brought a hand up and closed the lids over them.

"Goodnight, Harry. Rest well."

He leaned up and softly kissed each eye, and travelled to each cheek, to the forehead, nose, chin, and finally the lips. "Wait for me tomorrow, because I don't think I'll be there to say good morning." His lip trembled violently. "Soon, Harry. I hope."

Draco lay with Harry until the Aurors came, his body tremulous with tears the whole while. When men and women began walking in and out of the room, Draco knew that his last moments alone with Harry were over, so he kissed him one last time, and left the room without anybody noticing. Three of his friends from the Auror training program stopped him in the hall to give their condolences before he could get to the bathroom. He thanked them and might have said something to offend them, but his mind was beginning to shut down, and he was too tired to fight anymore.

Hermione met him at the door to the bathroom to ask if he needed anything. She had new tear tracks down her face. "Sleep," he answered with a slur. "Sleep. I just want to go crawl in bed with Harry and sleep."

"Draco…" Hermione began, but Draco pushed into the bathroom and grabbed a dreamless sleep potion. He staggered into his cold, empty bedroom with Hermione close behind, and downed the potion.

"See? Harry's sleeping already." And he collapsed onto his empty bed, asleep before his head hit the mattress.

The next couple days passed in a blur for Draco. He was little help in the funeral arrangements. He had handed the key to his vault to Mrs. Weasley and told her to use whatever they needed. The Weasleys, Sirius, Remus, and even Snape helped with the arrangements, so Draco saw no need. He knew that those helping would know what Harry would have wanted.

A massive memorial for the entire wizarding world was held the day before the actual services where only family and close friends were allowed to attend. The family listened to the memorial over the radio while Draco locked himself in his flat, scrubbing and casting spells in an attempt to clean all the blood from the floor. No attempt was successful, and when Draco arrived at the funeral the following day, his hands and arms were scrubbed raw and blistered.

Draco felt dizzy throughout the entire service, and he felt like if anybody asked him how he was holding up one more time, he would hex them. Ron and Hermione were his guards as they left the building, but they weren't able to block the questions the reporters were throwing at them.

"Mr. Malfoy, how are you holding up?" One reporter yelled. Draco felt his eye twitch.

"Everybody knows that you were witness to Mr. Potter's murder. Some even hypothesise that you were the one to do it."

Draco stopped walking. "Keep walking," Ron and Hermione hissed in his ears.

"Was it jealousy that made you do it? Were you and Mr. Potter having rows everyday as our source tells us?"

Draco spun around, fire in his eyes. "You think I did it?" he yelled.

"Draco," Hermione pulled on his sleeve.

"You accuse me of these falsehoods when all I've done is love and support him? I was _right there_ when he killed Voldemort. I helped him to recover just as he helped me. I've sat by and watched as he struggled to overcome an injury from the war he never would have recovered from. I saw how it hurt him to not be able to do what he wanted to do because of it. I saw how his face would light up every time he saw somebody he loved. I saw and heard his laugh when he found something funny. I've seen him cry, and I've held him. And now…" Draco's voice cracked and he cleared it. "I've seen my husband killed while I was helpless to do _anything_ about it! And _you_, you smug bastard, want to _accuse_ me of having used that weapon against him! By accusing _me_ of Harry Potter's murder, you dishonour him, because Harry would never have been so foolish to trust somebody he shouldn't."

"Yet, it's testimony that he married his murderer."

Draco whipped out his wand and sent the first hex he could think of. In an instant, the reporter's clothes disappeared. The crowd was utterly silent as Snape stepped in and began pulling Draco away.

"I _loved_ him!" he screamed. "That will never change, you bastard! I LOVE HIM!"

Later that night, when Draco was alone in his flat, he viciously scrubbed away the dried up tear tracks, because if they were gone, so were his memories of Harry. But as Draco tossed and turned in bed, images of he and Harry together kept coming back to him as he dreamed. Each time he woke, he reached for the spot in which Harry should have been, only to find it empty. Anger boiled deep within him that night – anger at the men who killed Harry, anger at Harry for dying, anger at the world for pretending to care about his death.

'But they couldn't possibly miss him like I do!' Draco thought angrily. 'They weren't the ones sleeping beside him _every_ night and waking up to his horrid breath every morning!'

Draco let out a dry laugh. 'They're not the ones who miss even his horrid breath.'

He rolled over and punched Harry's pillow. "Damn you, Harry!" he yelled. "You didn't have to die!"

Hot tears stung his eyes, but he shook his head. "I'm not going to cry anymore. And I'm not going to sit back and do nothing." In that moment, he decided that he was going to hunt down the Death Eaters and give them their dues. He was going to kill them, and he was going to enjoy it.

Sleep was beyond comprehension at this point, so Draco got up and dressed, not in his clothes, but in one of Harry's flannel shirts. It still smelled like him. The Aurors had tainted the magic in the living room, but Draco was an Auror and a brilliant wizard. He worked through the night, breaking through the different magical signatures until he came upon the last man to Disapparate. Anything before that was too old – too covered up by newer magical activity to distinguish.

Draco sat back on his heels, sweat beaded on his forehead, his magical reserves drained from the long day. He smiled. The signature was hard to read, but he got exactly what he needed from what was still intact. He recognised it from his days at Hogwarts.

One of the men had been Theodore Nott.

The plan came slowly over the next month and Draco put his Auror training to good use. However, even as he put his plan together, Draco suffered yet another loss. In the first days after Harry's death, he thought little on their coming child. Only when the commotion of the funeral died down did the horrible news infiltrate the newspapers and radio. Tiada Mildewing – the woman who carried their baby – was missing. The healer came forward to tell of a distressing call he had received from the woman a day before she went missing. She claimed to have had a miscarriage. When he told her to come in to the office, she seemingly panicked and ended the call. Magical Law Enforcement had no leads as to her whereabouts, but after hearing of the miscarriage, Draco stopped caring. She did not matter anymore. Her purpose was gone, and Draco thought that his purpose was gone as well. His husband and his child had been taken from him in one fell swoop. He was numb. There was nothing left.

After the news of Tiada and the baby, Draco did not allow anybody into his flat even when Ron and Hermione were threatening to break the door down. He let everybody believe that he had virtually become a hermit. Wild stories were being transmitted over the Wizarding Wireless Network, and printed in _The Daily Prophet_.

In reality, Draco disguised himself with a glamour charm every day and Disapparated to a different part of London and took a mode of Muggle transportation. He followed Theodore Nott everywhere. It became an obsession. He put listening charms into Nott's home; he knew all of Nott's friends and acquaintances; he knew everything there was to know about Nott, except for the third person in the puzzle. Draco found out who the man was who had lifted Harry's arm. His name was Jimmy Stratham. And the person who spoke the whole time was Nott himself. However, Draco was getting impatient. No information was coming up about the third man who had been so docile, so one night five weeks to the day of Harry's funeral, Draco Disapparated from his flat into the alley behind the Leaky Cauldron.

He entered the pub with dark brown hair, brown eyes, a pudgy nose, and thin glasses. Draco spotted the man with which he was meeting and quickly moved toward him. "Mr. Nott!" he called with a grin. "I'm so glad you could make it!"

Theodore Nott stood a pinched smile on his face. "Mr. Wallace, I presume? A good entrepreneur allows himself time to meet with potential customers."

"Indeed, indeed," Draco nodded. They formerly introduced themselves then.

"Pleased to meet you, Mr. Wallace –"

"Please, call me Alfred."

"Of course. Shall we sit, Alfred?"

Draco straightened his new robes and looked at himself with a critical eye. He wore his disguise as Alfred Wallace once more and was getting ready to meet Nott at his home. He checked his belt for the dagger, nodded in satisfaction, and took a breath. "Remember why you're doing this. He deserves it." With a 'pop', he Disapparated.

Nott lived in his ancestral home, a smaller version of Draco's childhood home, situated on the top of a hill. Draco looked up at it, remembering the times he had come here as a child with his father, and played with the boy named Theodore. Lucius had always told Draco that he and Theodore were equals, and Draco would never find another young wizard like him. Draco had adhered to every word, and though Theodore was always quite strange, he knew a lot and had a lot of contacts. Draco kept him within arm's reach throughout childhood and Hogwarts. Theodore had always been a businessman, and knew that business was business. He would understand Draco's visit today if he only said that he had unfinished business with him.

A small, frightened house elf answered the door to Draco's knock within moments, and led the way to Nott's study. A low murmur of voices drifted from beneath the door. The elf knocked and only entered when he was given permission.

"Master Nott has a visitor," the elf bowed and backed out.

Draco entered with a smile. Inside were two couches centred in the middle facing each other, and bookshelves were lining the walls, except for a break where another door stood slightly ajar. Draco remembered his father disappearing through that very door with Nott Sr.

Theodore Nott was standing at the other end of the couch, while two more men sat on the couch opposite. One of the men Draco had counted on, but the other he had not. The one he had not counted on had his hands tied with rope in his lap, a black eye, dirty, dishevelled brown hair, and torn, dirty clothes. He had his face turned to the floor.

"Mr. Wallace!" Nott greeted. "Please sit! This is my colleague, Jimmy, and the other is inconsequential to our meeting."

Draco sat after shaking the two men's hands and gave the other man a curious glance. Draco could not recognise him, so he wondered who he was and why he was being kept there.

"Mr. Wallace has expressed interest in our trade. He told me his story of not being able to join in on the war. He rather hoped that the Dark Lord would win, so he'd like to make up for some of it now and join us. I thought I would bring him here to give him a couple tests on somebody from downstairs."

"We could always use more hands," the other agreed.

Nott nodded and paced to the door behind his desk. "First test, Albert, is to watch this prisoner while we ready an experiment we have just for you downstairs."

"Easy enough," Draco nodded and inwardly grinned. This was perfect. The two excused themselves through the door. Draco stood from the couch and checked his pocket watch. The glamour would wear off in under a minute, and he'd rather they weren't there to see it.

"They'd be more impressed with you if you tortured me a bit," the prisoner spoke up suddenly, looking up to study Draco.

Draco removed his glasses and placed them on the arm of the couch before turning to return the stare. "It looks to me like you've had about enough curses and hexes to last you through tomorrow at least." Draco smiled and winked.

The prisoner furrowed his brow. "You're not like them. Why do you want to become one of them anyway? Their master is dead."

"I know," Draco sighed, and walked to a mirror. He could feel the tingling begin throughout his body and knew he was changing.

"Alfred Wallace, huh?" continued the prisoner. "Never heard of you, and you look about my age. Twenty or so?"

"I'm twenty, yes." He took a deep breath, watching his nose change. "Alfred Wallace doesn't exist though. Maybe he does somewhere but not here." Draco turned and the prisoner's eyes went wide when he saw the change. The tingling stopped and it was done. "One word to them before they're out of there and I swear…"

"Never," the prisoner breathed. "Draco… what's your plan?"

Draco raised a brow at him. "Patience."

He turned back to the mirror and smirked at himself. "It'll feel good though."

The door opened again behind him. "Alf…" Nott trailed off as Draco turned to him. "Fuck me."

"Good to see you, too, Theodore."

Draco walked to him and shook his hand. "How are you?"

"Good… good. Draco, where did Alfred go?" Nott's eyes travelled up and down Draco's body, his eyes narrowing.

"Oh, that man with the big nose? He was walking out of the room when I came in. Something must have come up because he seemed in a hurry."

Nott looked to the exit suspiciously. "He told me to watch your prisoner, in fact." Nott laughed nervously. "Don't worry about it, Theodore," Draco smiled. "Auror work has seemed kind of pointless since… well, since Harry," he swallowed, not quite sure if it was part of the act or not. "Since Harry was killed, and then the baby."

"Yes, I'm sorry to have heard about that," Nott nodded. He stuck his arm back in the door and made a motion to go back. "Please sit down."

"Thank you," Draco smiled and sat next to the prisoner. Nott sat across from them, nervously glancing between the two.

"What of the baby?" the prisoner inquired, biting his lip.

Draco looked to him, slight annoyance at him. "Dead," he said shortly. "That's what they say anyway. Tiada miscarried and now is missing."

The prisoner looked stricken, and glanced to Nott, who looked plainly murderous.

"Would you like for me to send him away?" Nott asked. "If you'd rather speak alone, that is."

"What I have to say is of no consequence," Draco casually waved him off. "I'm just making the rounds, you know."

"The rounds?"

"Yes, I'm taking a vacation of sorts. I need to get off this island and away from the cameras. I'm tired of the rumours of me being a hermit – ridiculous really." Draco scoffed.

"So they're not true?"

"Certainly not! I may be in mourning and I do miss Harry, but I can't ignore my life, can I? Besides where would sitting around that flat crying over pictures and ghosts get me? It would get me an expensive trip to the loony bin, that's what."

"Potter probably wouldn't want you to mope anyway."

Draco fell silent. Harry would also not want him to do what he was about to do. He smiled to himself. "Harry was too noble for his own good though."

"That's not true!" the prisoner cried out.

Draco looked at him sharply. "And did you know him?" he asked harshly.

Nott stood from the couch and threw a curse at the prisoner and he grabbed his arm in pain. "Was that really necessary?" Draco asked Nott. "Because I don't think it was."

Suddenly, Draco felt something behind him and he had his wand out in an instant. He sent the thing flying into the bookcases with a crack. It was Jimmy and he was unconscious. _"Expelliarmus!"_ Draco cried, disarming Nott as he pointed his wand at Draco. Draco broke the wand in half and threw the pieces in different directions.

"A man can't even visit his friends anymore without worrying of an attack on his person. The world today, honestly."

Nott clenched his teeth. "Why the act? What do you want, Malfoy?"

"I just wanted to see you, Theodore, my old friend. Nothing more."

"That's bullshit, and we all know it. What is it? You wouldn't have made up Alfred Wallace if you hadn't an agenda. I knew he was sketchy, but I admit you had me fooled, Malfoy."

Draco took a deep breath and sent ropes from his wand to wrap around Nott's entire body, tying his limbs to it. "You know all too well why I'm here, Nott."

"Why?"

"Because six weeks ago, you and two other men, one of which is in this room, broke into my home, tied me up, and held tight to Harry. Not only that, but I have good reason to believe that you're behind the death of my baby."

Nott smirked. "I would never step foot into a Mudblood's home, Malfoy. Are you sure you weren't dreaming? And I had nothing to do with your _baby_. At any rate, good riddance – it was impure. It deserved death before it was born. Whatever deities were in charge of its life, was correct in taking it away."

Rage contorted Draco's face and he pocketed his wand. He moved across the distance between them in a flash and punched Nott in the face, sending him toppling to the floor. Draco followed him, straddling Nott's chest and punching him in the jaw. He grabbed a fistful of Nott's hair and pulled his head up. "Did you think you were safe when you thought I had turned into a hermit? Did you think I wouldn't find out you were behind it?"

Draco banged Nott's head against the floor and picked it back up. "Did you think I wouldn't come after you?"

"You weren't supposed to live either," Nott wheezed out after Draco bashed his head again.

"Then you should have finished the job you started!" Draco screamed, spit flying. "You killed Harry! You should have come back and finished the job before I got pissed!"

"I can finish it now if you like."

Draco pushed his head into the floor again. "Time's up. We're doing it my way now."

Nott looked away to the prisoner and up to Draco. "You don't understand, Malfoy."

"Don't I? I saw you stab Harry three times until he was dead. I think I know all I need to know."

"No, you…"

Draco withdrew the dagger from his belt and dug it into Nott's chest straight into his heart. "Idiot," Nott gurgled and went still.

Draco pulled the blade from his chest and stood. He approached the unconscious body of Jimmy Stratham, and stuck him in the heart. When he stood, he wiped sweat from his brow.

"Draco," whispered the prisoner.

"I just need to clean my dagger and I'll release you."

"You didn't need to kill them."

"Yes, I did."

"Why?"

"Revenge."

"Do you feel better?"

"Much better."

"Does the loneliness go away when you're done exacting it?"

Draco stopped cleaning the blade for a moment. "I've got you here, don't I? I'm not alone; therefore I'm not lonely…. Maybe I'll feel empty later though."

Draco finished cleaning the blade and put it back on his belt. The prisoner held out his hands and Draco took them gently with his own, taking out his wand. There were bruises covering the hands. "Do they hurt still?" Draco asked as he freed the bindings.

"Not those bruises."

"Let's see the ones that do then. I'll try to heal some for you."

The prisoner did as he was asked and Draco began working, being sure to be gentle. The prisoner closed his eyes, a small smile spreading his face. "I dreamed of this, Draco," he confessed. "I dreamed that you'd figure everything out and come for me." He sighed. "And this feels so good. I haven't been touched by somebody who cares about me for over a month."

Draco worked slow, confused by this man's words. "Better get home to your family then if you haven't got more injuries that I don't see."

The prisoner looked to Draco with stricken eyes. "Are you serious?"

"Well, _I'm_ not taking you prisoner. I can't have any tag-alongs."

"I didn't think you were taking me prisoner."

"Then stop being ridiculous. At any rate, I need to go… unless you're going to tell on me for killing your captors?"

The prisoner stared for a few moments before shaking his head. "I'll take care of it. Don't worry."

"Thanks." Draco stood and walked to the exit.

"Draco?"

"Yes?" he turned around.

"Where are you going?"

"Right now? To see my mother. It's time we talked. After that, I haven't decided yet. I'll probably just go home."

"No vacation then?"

"No vacation," Draco shook his head, a small smile on his face.

"I think it'll take a while to get out of here, but… stay at home, okay? I'm sure somebody will be along to put things right again for you." He winked. "Trust me, all right? Stay at home."

Draco stared. "You're strange."

"I'll make sure to have the person explain me to you when he gets there, then. You'll understand. Will you stay at home?"

Slowly, Draco nodded. "I'll stay at home, if only for the confirmation that you're clinically insane."

The prisoner laughed, his smile lighting up his face, and just for a moment, Draco thought he saw green flash at him from behind the blue eyes. Draco shook his head, his smile fading, and left without another word.

The house was quiet beyond the study, where Draco could still hear the footsteps of the strange prisoner walking around, cleaning things up. Draco let himself into the welcoming room and borrowed the Floo powder on the mantle. He started a fire, threw the powder in and called out, "Malfoy Manor!" The fire whisked him away, and soon he stepped into the welcoming room at his childhood home. His heart beat erratically as he looked around. He had not been here for years, and never even considered coming back until he was old and grey. Now, at this point in his life, at the young age of twenty, Draco felt a strong yearning to run up to his bedroom and never leave the comfort of it. But before he could take one step, his mother entered in a swirl of purple robes. She stopped in her tracks.

"Draco!"

He bowed courteously. "Hello, Mother."

Narcissa moved toward him, taking his chin in her hand. She moved his head from side to side, up and down, and then moved it so he would look at her. "So this is what it took for you to come see your mother – that Potter being stabbed to death. Was it he who kept you from me?"

"That was uncalled for, Mother. Harry didn't keep me from doing anything. In fact, I'm quite certain he'd be happy to hear that I've come."

Narcissa nodded, her eyes darting to Draco's cheek. "You have a little blood on your cheek. Is it yours?"

Draco pulled out a handkerchief and wiped it away. "No," he answered truthfully. "It's probably Theodore Nott's."

"What did you do, Draco?"

"I killed him and his friend too. They're the ones who killed Harry."

Narcissa sighed. "Draco as much as you've rejected your father in the past several years, you're more like him than you could ever wish."

"No, I've never killed without a motive."

"Your father's motive was to stay alive for his family."

"And to drag his son into his certain death," Draco scoffed.

"And do you think revenge is a good reason to kill, Draco? Your husband killed my husband. Did I exact revenge on Harry?"

"I don't know. I still haven't found out who the third person was that night."

"Would you kill me if I was the third?"

Draco looked into Narcissa's eyes and felt that pull to stay again. He felt like a child suddenly, stubborn but hurt, and needing his mother's hug, but too afraid to ask. "No," he looked down. "Of course not."

"You can sleep easy tonight then, Draco. I wasn't there. I was just as surprised as the rest of the wizarding world, and worried about you. I attended his funeral, Draco."

"You did?" Draco looked back up.

"Of course. I wanted to see how you were."

"I wasn't at my best, I'm afraid," Draco whispered.

"Judging from that spectacle you made when you were leaving, I'd say you were correct."

"We…" Draco's voice started to crack. "We were going to have a baby, mum. He wanted one so much. But the woman miscarried. The baby would have been born next week."

"It's probably better that she's gone then. You're in no state to care for a child."

"We had the room set up," Draco whispered, not listening.

"Draco… don't think about a baby. It'll do you no good."

Narcissa pulled Draco into a hug, running her fingers through his hair. Draco stood nestled against her, the pulse in her neck a steady anchor to his frazzled mind, just as it had been for him as a child. "I almost wish I could erase him from my memory," he whispered against her minutes later. "Just to feel like I'm normal again. Anything to get rid of this… empty feeling. I think about him all the time. He's everywhere I look at home. I can still smell him in the furniture and in the pillow."

Narcissa pulled away but kept her hands on his shoulder. "I know of something that could help you if you were interested."

"What is it?"

"It's memory alteration. It has the same idea as the 'obliviate' charm, but it works differently. It can square in on one memory, one person, whatever the person might want, and erase it. The obliviate is broader. It'll erase everything you know. This won't."

"You're suggesting that I erase Harry?"

"It's a thought."

Draco pulled away, shaking his head. "I know I said I would like to, but I wasn't serious, mother. I would never do that. Harry isn't somebody I could forget."

Narcissa shrugged gently. "It was just a suggestion, Draco."

"Well… if you have any other suggestions that might let me forget for a while, let me know."

"How about a mini-break, Draco? I've wanted a vacation lately, but haven't sought to go alone. This could be perfect for us. What do you say? We'll go to Greece or Italy… where ever you feel, but perhaps somewhere warm."

Draco turned his head, thinking. He wanted to say that he couldn't go, but there was no reason to say no. And it would disappoint his mother if he was disinclined to go, and he had done that so much in the past several years. Perhaps now that Harry was gone, it was time to pay more attention to his mother. "I'll go with you," he said quietly. "Greece sounds lovely."

"Wonderful! I'll begin making arrangements straight away. We'll leave tomorrow morning. Why don't you go home and pack, and come back here to spend the night in your old room?"

Draco perked up at the sound of that. He missed his old room for no apparent reason, and would do anything his mother asked if only to attain the comfort the room provided. "I'll be back."

Narcissa kissed his cheek. "I do hope you'll be around more, Draco. It gets so lonely around here."

Draco nodded. "That was my plan."

"Good."

Narcissa and Draco left for Greece early the next morning just as the post owl was delivering the day's edition of _The Daily Prophet_. Narcissa called for it to go back and not deliver for a week. Draco watched it fly away as they waited for their Portkey to activate, a dreadful feeling in the pit of his stomach. He suddenly wanted that paper more than he wanted to go to Greece.

The time spent in Greece was nice, though Draco dragged through the days with no particular enthusiasm. He had vacationed in Greece before and nothing was new to him. His spirit lowered with each passing day, and on the third, he finally remembered how the prisoner at Nott's house wanted him to stay at home. He looked around the suite he was in, and wondered dismally why he agreed to come. On the fourth night, he dreamed fitfully. They were dreams of Harry, though all images were distorted and bloody. In all, the images were pleading with Draco.

"Don't go, Draco," Harry would repeat. "I love you and I want you to be happy. Don't forget me, Draco. Never forget me."

"No," Draco moaned, tossing his body over his sheets. "I won't. I'll always remember you. I'll… remember... remember you."

When Draco awoke the next morning, his body was covered in cold sweats, and he could not stop shivering. He wished she had never mentioned the memory alteration. He could not get it from his mind. Narcissa took one annoyed look at him and decided that they were going home. Draco apologised over and over as she led him to his bedroom, but she was cold and distant.

"I'm sorry, mother!" he yelled when she started down the hallway.

"You have nothing to be sorry for, Draco, so stop it."

"I'm sorry that I can't get over him," he whispered as she disappeared down the stairs.

He closed the door and went into his bathroom to take a hot shower. When he was finished, he decided to go to his flat to pick up a few things. Attempting to slip out unnoticed, he stealthily moved through the manor to the front door. However, Narcissa stood in waiting with her arms crossed. Draco was not in the mood to be interrogated. "Where are you going?"

He spared her one glance before slipping out the door and Disapparating. The flat was almost as he had left it, although it seemed as though somebody had gone through it. There were dirty dishes in the sink that he hadn't recalled using, and the bed, which had been neatly made, was pulled back and there was a dent on the pillow where a head had recently lain. Draco felt anger rise within him, because the person had been sleeping on Harry's side of the bed. He picked up the pillow and inhaled, happy to still be able to smell the fresh scent of Harry's hair. He cast a spell to preserve the smell and tucked it under his arm. Next, he went into the closet, cast a preserving smell on two of Harry's shirts, and stuffed them into the pillowcase.

One day, he thought, he would forget exactly how Harry sounded when he spoke, and when he laughed, and he would forget the freckles on his face that you had to look closely to see, but if Draco could help it, he would never forget the way Harry smelled. His scent brought back the vivid memories of how it felt to be held by him, and to make love with him, and to kiss him, and what his skin felt like under Draco's fingertips. With his smell, Draco would always remember somehow. Draco thought of the memory alteration and shivered. It scared him to think that he was even thinking about it. He would never do it. It disturbed him too greatly. Mostly, it scared him to think that he would ever forget anything about his husband.

He clutched the pillow, murmuring the sentiments from his dream, "I'll _never_ forget you. Then he moved back into the living room and grabbed his favourite picture of them, the one in which they stood a few feet away from each other, but cast each other covetous looks before Harry grinned and pounced on Draco so that they rolled together on the ground. They laughed happily before the picture started over. Then he grabbed a picture Harry had hated, but Draco loved. It was of Harry's head. His face was flushed, his glasses falling off his nose, and his mouth slightly parted. Draco had taken the picture in the middle of giving Harry a blowjob, which is why Harry hated it. But Draco loved it, because he looked so radiant, and nobody would ever guess what Harry was receiving just moments before. He looked so natural.

Draco's heart ached as he looked at it. He wanted to see that face just one more time. He would do anything.

Swallowing roughly, Draco moved into the kitchen and with a flick of his wand, the dishes were washed and put away. He'd come back home tomorrow, he thought, to investigate who had been in his home. But right now, he wanted to rest. As he walked to the door, he noticed that the bloodstain had been removed. He stopped and stared.

"Strange." He looked at the picture of Harry again, and smiled just a little. "Looking out for me still, right? Who'd you know who can get stains out better than you? Bloody ponce, you are, probably meeting up with Better Maids in the U.K. or something behind my back, and they're looking out for me." Chuckling quietly, Draco left the flat and returned to the manor.

Much to Draco's surprise, Narcissa was waiting in his bedroom. "You've been gone for a while."

"I wanted to get some things."

"Planning to stay?"

"I don't know. Maybe. I just wanted my pillow and some pictures. I'm fine now, mum. You don't have to watch me like I'm a two year old."

"I know, but I worry, Draco. You do seem a bit better now than this morning." Narcissa stood from her chair. "I'm going to retire. I'll see you in the morning. Sleep well."

She whisked from the room and closed the door tightly behind her. Draco shook his head and began placing his picture frames on his bedside table. After changing into his pyjamas, he climbed into bed and turned out the lights with his wand. He left the candle burning on his bedside table, and hugged Harry's pillow to him, burying his nose in the soft material. "Good night, Harry. Give me good dreams tonight."

Within minutes, Draco was asleep.

Narcissa peeked into Draco's room, finding it dark. The fire was down to embers in the fireplace, and a candle on the bedside table had only just blown out from the wind coming from the open window. Draco was sleeping peacefully in a foetal position on his large bed, his covers up to his chin, a pillow clutched in his arms like a teddy bear. Narcissa approached him quietly, the vial of liquid in her hand held carefully. She sat next to him.

"My little boy," she whispered gently.

Draco stirred in his sleep, his eyes moving rapidly back and forth behind his lids. His mother softly ran her hand over his head. "Rest quietly," Narcissa told him when he started to mumble under his breath.

"Harry," he was murmuring brokenly. "I won't…."

"Shh, honey. It's all right now. What you don't know, can't hurt you. You'll be all right in the morning."

"I will…." His whimpers grew quieter and then louder. "Will… will remember you."

Narcissa frowned. "You won't have this dream anymore. It's time now, Draco. I hate to see you hurting. This will be for your own good."

She nudged him onto his back and gently lifted his head from the pillow. He stirred, but was so deep within his dream that he did not wake. Prying open his mouth, she poured the liquid down his throat. He choked and began swallowing on instinct.

"Good boy," she purred.

Narcissa withdrew her wand and slowly pointed it at his head. "I'm sorry, my son."

And with a whispered incantation, Draco's dream was stopped, his eyes stopped moving, and he fell limp against the bed. She picked up his left hand and stared at the ring for a few moments. "Wizards gold," she murmured. "And it's still glowing. How interesting you never noticed it, darling," she smirked to herself as she slid the ring from his finger. She thought of the article she had read in the paper that morning, the article that Draco would have read if they had never gone to Greece. What good luck that they had gone! Now things could be as they should have been. Smiling, she removed herself from the bed, grabbed the picture frames from the bedside table, and backed slowly away. "I shall start making the arrangements in the morning," she spoke to his still form. She retreated to the door, and looked back in the room as she started closing it.

"After all," she said with a small smile, "I am not aware of anything that is going on in this room right now. As far as the Ministry is concerned, I've slept through the night. Isn't that right, Draco?" Draco did not reply, did not even move. "That's what I thought. Good night, son."

_Closing your eyes to disappear  
you pray your dreams will leave you here  
but still you wake and know the truth  
no one's there _

say goodnight  
don't be afraid  
calling me calling me as you fade to black

* * *

**Author notes: **This will obviously be continued in the sequel which is entitled **Lacuna**! I assure you that I will be posting within the next week. Posting will not be as frequent any longer, but it will be more often than that long break I took on this fic.

At any rate, it's Lacuna, and I won't be leaving you hanging for too long. I know you'll want to know what Narcissa is up to.

Also, could you be kind and leave a review as this is the last part of the story? How did I do? Will you continue reading the sequel, or are you too ticked with me? Please leave a note!


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